College, here I come!
by rizzyg2
Summary: Bella goes to college to meet new people, but her roommate turns out to be Alice Cullen, one of the "popular girls" at Forks High. Alice and Bella become best friends, but then Bella meets Alice's twin, Edward, first Forks, now Dartmouth's biggest player.
1. Moving Out, And Then Back In Again

**A/N: Twilight is the best thing since vegetarian jelly. I may not be a vegetarian but who wants to eat cow's hooves- icky!!! Just warning you: my author's notes will usually be very short- unless I have something important to say!**

Disclaimer: Twilight & all it's characters belong to Stephanie Meyer

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Chapter 1: Moving Out and Back In Again

BPOV

I stood at the door to the house I'd called home for the past three years. It hadn't been very eventful; yes, I would have rather have been with my best friend, my mum back home. But I'm not complaining. The first few months were bad, but I had Angela and Jake. Jake- my best friend. He would be the hardest person to say goodbye to. The person I would miss the most. If I stayed, he would eventually move on though. And where would that leave me. You can't put your life on hold for the sake of your best friend. I would know. Everyone lets you down in the end.

My goodbye with Charlie was short, very short. One or two tears were shed, I'm not really sure who by, probably not me- I was just eager to get out the door. This was a new chapter in my life, I was starting afresh. Not completely afresh, I would still have some unwelcome reminders of my past. My High School had managed to get six people in to Dartmouth. Alice Cullen and her boyfriend Jasper Hale. Emmet Cullen and his girlfriend Rosalie Hale. Edward Cullen, THE Edward Cullen. Of all the population of Forks, her was the least likely person I would have said to go to Dartmouth. He was the biggest player in the school.

Jake was giving me a lift to Dartmouth. I wouldn't be seen dead there with a car like mine. And however much I loved my old Chevy truck, this was the new Bella. The one who wasn't afraid to stand up for herself. So I was leaving my truck behind.

"Bella, lets go already. You know my Rabbit hates being left idle"

Jake already had his Rabbit up and running. The gas-guzzler was what he affectionately liked to call her. Of course he hadn't found this out until AFTER he put it together out of old scrap parts. It looked pretty good though. I couldn't have asked for a better ride! I would arrive at my new home in style; well, sort of anyway.

***

Jake woke me by tapping gently on my shoulder. It was a nice, peaceful way to be woken up. Usually the incessant ringing of my alarm clock woke me up. Wait a minute, why was Jake in my room? I was sitting in the back seat of Jake's rabbit. His head loomed over me, his arm gently prodding mine.

"C'mon Bells. Time to go! Lets go meet your roommate."

I groaned. Her name was Alice, which was all I knew about her. Hopefully she would be nice, but I wasn't counting on it. Oh well, if I didn't like her, I could always swap at the end of the year. It's not like I had to put up with her forever. So, with slow steps, I walked up to my room… only to go flying! Jake, his reflexes as fast as lightning, grabbed me just before I hit the ground. My roommate chose this minute to make an appearance.

"You must be Bella"

I groaned internally. **(A/N: No prizes for guessing who) **It was Alice Cullen.

"Wait a minute, you're Bella Swan! Oh we're going to be such good friends. And this must be your erm… boyfriend. I don't think we've met.

Oh crap, she had assumed from the way Jake was holding me that we were _together. _But I don't feel that way about Jake, about anybody in fact. Yet. Hopefully college would change that though. I stood up, unwrapped Jake's arm from where he had left it; around my waist!

"You haven't. This is Jacob Black. And he's not my boyfriend."

I said this so venomously Alice actually took a step back. Her face slipped for a second, before broadening back into its usual smile. Maybe I could get to like Alice, no matter who she was related to.

Alice grabbed my hand and dragged me inside.

"Right, which bedroom do you want? I thought that you might have a lot of stuff so I was going to give you the big one but from the look of your bag. It would take about 10 shopping trips to fill this room and we just don't have time. Not with all the people you're going to meet. Oh and we'll have to give you a COMPLETE make over. I mean look at you; you haven't even got any make up on. I mean round here that's practically a crime! Well at least in my books it is. Oh you just have to meet Rosalie, she'll love you. Well she'll love your hair any way. She just loves to style hair…"

I just let Alice twitter on as she grabbed my bags, leaving a shell-shocked Jake framed in the doorway. She sat me down in the room that she had obviously chosen to be mine. I liked it, the colour scheme wasn't too in-your-face and the wardrobe was inconspicuous in the corner.

"Rosalie and I will just have to get you a bigger wardrobe, I mean that one's so small you can't even see it. But from the amount of clothes you've got, I suppose that that's about right. I'll leave you alone tonight but tomorrow… well that's another story. Have you got a boyfriend? Is that why you were so offended about me calling Jake your boyfriend? Because if you haven't there are some really nice boys that I could set you up with. There's this one boy, Mike Newton, who would be absolutely perfect for you. Or Taylor Crowley…"

The list went on and on. She didn't even seem like she was going to stop soon. So I wasn't expecting it when she turned towards me.

"Bella, why are you so quiet. I mean if I'm blabbering you just have to tell me and I'll stop. I have a habit of going on and on. Edward says that I just love the sound of my own voice."

I shivered a little at the mention of Edward's name. Alice noticed.

"Are you cold. Sorry, I've been doing it again. Blabbering that is. I told you, you've got to stop me before I get into full swing.

"Erm Alice"

"Yeah Bella"

"You're doing it again"

She laughed. It was a beautiful sound. She was just as pretty as the rest of her family. A pixie-like face framed by dark, spiky hair. Yeah, she was very pretty. Just like the rest of her family who, now I was living with Alice, I would undoubtedly have to meet. Great!

"Bedtime"

"But Alice, it's only 10 o'clock!"

"Yeah but we've got to be up at 6 o'clock to get you ready for your first day of college!"

I groaned inwardly but reached to pull a t-shirt out of my suitcase. Then I noticed that Alice had already unpacked for me.

"Umm Alice, where's my stuff," I asked miserably.

"I threw it out"

"What?! WHY?"

"Because then you HAVE to get new stuff"

"But what will I wear tomorrow?" Oh god, I was dreading the answer.

"I'm sure we'll find you something"

"We," I asked, or maybe pleaded is the right word.

"Just Rosalie and I, no one special"

Damn that stupid pixie.

"Alice"

"Yeah?"

"Can I borrow a nightie?"


	2. This is WAR

A/N: This is my first ever Fanfic. Sorry if it's rubbish. Feel free to flame me. All death threats welcome. I probably even deserve them!!!

Disclaimer: Twilight & all it's characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. (I also don't own Ugly Betty)

Chapter 2: So Let There Be War!

EPOV

Alice was moving in today, her new roommate was called Bell or Bella or something like that. I wondered absentmindedly if she was pretty. If she was, it would make this year so much more fun. Although Alice probably wouldn't want me messing with her "next best friend." But I love my crazy little pixie sister. Life just wouldn't be the same without her; well I wouldn't have as many clothes, that's for sure!

I knocked on Alice's door. Waited, and then knocked again. In a minute, I heard someone, who wasn't Alice, shout from the other side of the door. Well Alice's roommate obviously wasn't an early riser!

Suddenly the door opened to reveal a beautiful brunette framed in the doorway. Her body curved in ALL the right places and when she stared up at me, I saw the biggest brown eyes I had ever seen. We must have stood there staring at each other for about three minutes, but it felt like eternity. Wait, what the hell was that. Did I just say I wanted to stare into this random girl's eyes for eternity? Well that certainly wasn't like me; my policy was hit and run. No romance, no complications. She's yours for one night, and that's it. Oh course some girls obviously didn't work that way. For instance Lauren back in Forks. Now there was a vixen. Good in bed, but crap at everything else. Not really my type of person.

Alice came dancing up to the door.

"Who is it, B?"

B, her name began with B. Beatrice? No, too old-fashioned. Betty? No, too Ugly Betty.

Alice saw me, gasped, and then threw herself at me.

"Edward, I missed you so much! This is Bella, she's my new roommate / best friend. We're going shopping today because Bella's clothes were horrendous. I threw them all out. Do you want to come? It would be great if you did, we'd love to have a second opinion on things and a guy would be really helpful."

I wasn't concentrating. Bella, her name was Bella. That rang a bell for some reason. I hoped not, surely I'd remember if I gone with someone like her! I realized that Alice was waiting for an answer. Not really remembering what she had said. I found myself agreeing to it. Big mistake.

"Fantastic, Bella needs to get dressed but then we'll be ready to leave. We can take my Porsche. The mall won't be that busy because it's a Sunday"

Oh great, I've just agreed to go shopping with Alice. But at least I'll get to spend some more time with Bella. My god she was beautiful. Bella in lots of different outfits… heaven on earth if you ask me.

***

Bella is very cold and distant. She really is quite a challenge. I can't decide whether to just push her up against the wall and kiss her or to be the perfect gentleman. Alice is giving me evils though; so I'm guessing that she wants to have some input into my situation. Great, exactly what I need, Alice interfering in my love life for the 17 billionth time!

Oh great, now Alice is going to ambush me while Bella is getting changed into some dress Alice picked out for her.

"Edward Anthony Cullen. I can tell exactly what you are thinking. I swear to you, Bella is not going to be another one of your hit and run prospects. Any guy who goes within 20 feet of her is going to be vetoed by me. And frankly, you don't pass my standards."

"Alice, no matter what you seem to think, I do not like Bella."

"Edward, admit it now, you are completely besotted"

"Maybe a little bit"

I will make you a deal"

Alice is making deals with me? This doesn't sound good. Uh oh, Alice always has the meanest conditions. And the consequences if you fail are HORRENDOUS. Is it worth the utter humiliation that Alice will put me through just for one girl? YES, this is Bella we're talking about!

"If you prove to me that you have changed, that you want to GO OUT with Bella, not knock her up and then leg it out the door; THEN and ONLY THEN will I let you go out with her."

Changed, I'm not changing. I'm happy where I am. Edward Cullen, the school's biggest player. Didn't Alice know how long it took to achieve this status? But maybe I could pretend to have changed. Just long enough to get Bella. I could go back to being a player once I was through with her. But now the question: How to get her? With Alice's help, this would be a piece of cake!

"Alice, for Bella, I will change! I promise.

Ok, maybe I feel a little bad about lying to Alice. But a little white lie never hurt anyone. And how would Alice know if I fooled around with some other girls on the side. As long as I can persuade her that I've changed the cat's in the bag. Or the brunette's in the bag anyway.

"Edward, if I had a penny for every time you told me that I could have two 911 turbo Porsche's by now. So if you want Bella, prove it!"

Damn, that pixie saw right through it. Maybe my bag's empty after all. Maybe I should just give up… NO!!! I want Bella, I need Bella. She's the perfect piece of arm candy for my Junior Year at college. I could keep her till something better comes along. All with very little effort on my behalf.

"Alice, Alice, where are you?"

"Coming Bella"

Alice gave me the evils before she left. This was obviously a warning: stay away before you've shown your true colours! If Alice wanted war, war was what she was going to get.

BPOV

So far, we've bought party outfits, casual wear, football match outfits, clubbing outfits, shirts, jeans, shoes, and then: A SHOPPING OUTFIT!!! According to Alice, your shopping outfit is something you can get changed in and out of quickly. I feel like a doll that Alice has decided to play dress-up with. At the moment, I was trying on a ball gown. It was the sixth one from this shop and the fifteenth one today. By some coincidence, it was the first one that I actually liked.

"Bella, spin for me please"

I obediently did a 360 degree turn, showing off the beautiful dress to Alice (who had just barged into my changing room.)

"We're getting this one,"

"Alice, this is way out of my budget and I refuse to let you pay for anything else."

"Fine, try this last dress on while I take them all back"

Alice flounced out of the changing room. YES, I had finally gotten my own way; I just hoped that I hadn't upset Alice too much in the process. I glanced over at the last dress Alice wanted me to try on and almost had a heart attack!

The dress was black and pink, **(Yes, like the one in Mean Girls) **it would barely cover my but and the cleavage that it would expose was horrendous. There was no way in hell I was even trying this dress on. I swear, when you thought you couldn't get any lower, life just throws something else at you.

"Alice, Alice, where are you?"

EPOV

Alice and Bella must have been in that changing room for ten minutes. Finally, Alice stepped out and came up to me. Very quietly she whispered in my ear.

"Try anything, anything at all, and I will kill you"

Then in a louder voice, obviously meant for Bella to hear, she called out:

"Bella, come and show Edward the dress"

Very shyly, Bella emerged from the changing room. I collapsed on to the chair in shock.

"Shit Bella. You look amazing. Let me guess, Alice found this for you."

Bella nodded shyly in my general direction. She hadn't said two words to me all day. Maybe she was shy or something; because there is no way that she could not like me. I mean, I was like the fittest boy at Dartmouth. SHE was lucky to get ME!!!

BPOV:

Great, first Alice makes me come shopping with her. Then, she brings along her player brother instead of Rosalie. Then, if she hadn't ruined my life enough, she parades me in front of Edward in the most inappropriate dress I have ever seen. The look on his face and the bulge in his pants told me a lot more then Alice's carefully impassive face did.

"Bella, guess what?"

Oh god… here we go. Let me guess, she ruined my life some more

"What Alice?"

"I bought you the dresses!"

Great, just great

EPOV:

The look on Alice's face was smug. So this was a test? And I had obviously failed miserably. Well, Alice may have won this battle, but the war was far from over!


	3. Bleak Childhoods and Waterproof Mascara

A/N:

SHOUTOUT: to 13vicky13 and x-escape with freedom-x for being the only two people who bothered to review!!! Ily guys

Disclaimer: Twilight &all its characters belong to Stephanie Meyer

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Chapter 3: Bleak childhoods and waterproof mascara

APOV **(this is my first time writing from APOV so it might not be great)**

Yeah, my twin Edward Cullen was THE Edward Cullen. I wasn't proud of it. It's like being famous by association: it gets boring after a while. And it's not like Edward isn't hurting anyone. I've seen the trail of girls he leaves in his wake and Bella is not going to be one of them.

Bella's alarm clock obviously hadn't gone off. I should really go help her, In fact, it would be even kinder to get a bucket of water…

"Alice, what the hell!"

"Your alarm clock hadn't gone off and because you're so late, I had to resort to desperate measures!"

"Alice! My alarm clock hadn't gone off yet because it's 6am. It goes off in 2 hours. So let me sleep until then."

Thinking about it, that's probably a good idea, I mean Bella gets half an hour more sleep and I get to organize Bella's clothes! Everyone wins!

***

BPOV

I was woken up at 6.30am by a little pixie and another big bucket of water.

"Next time you do that I will put you on top of the cupboard and leave you there!"

Alice looked at me, her eyes wide, her bottom lip trembling. As I watched, her eyes welled up with unshed tears and I grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Sorry Alice, sorry. I'm sorry. I'll do whatever I can to make it up to you. You can dress me up every day of the week for the rest of the year if you want."

Please say that I haven't messed up my only friendship, oh god! I'd never forgive myself if I did.

"P P P Promise"

"Yes Alice, I promise"

Suddenly Alice pulled away, her expression back to normal. I had been tricked!

"Alice, that's not fair"

"All is fair in love and war, Bella. And you need to learn: this IS a war"

"But who's the enemy?"

"Bella"

Alice leaned in, as if to tell me a big secret. I automatically leaned closer to her too

"The enemy is…"

"Yes"

I didn't realize that I was just egging her on.

She leaned in closer, so she was whispering in my ear.

"Your clothes"

Alice then burst out laughing.

Growling under my breath, I walked over to my wardrobe, fully intending to wear the first thing that I found. THAT would teach Alice a lesson!

"Number 29"

"Pardon"

Had Alice gone mental? Why was she randomly spouting numbers?

"Number 29. That's the outfit you're wearing today. I numbered them all so I didn't have to accessorize every day."

"Please tell me that you're joking"

She wasn't.

"Your shoes are in the plastic bag with the 29 / 7 on it. They go with both outfits"

I was extremely apprehensive as I took the shoes out of the bag. Thank god, they weren't high heels, they were pumps.

"Thank you Alice, you haven't tried to get me to wear heels today"

"Well duh, high heels and a denim miniskirt would make you look much too slutty"

"A MINISKIRT?"

"Bella, you promised, remember?"

"Fine, but I will get revenge for this"

"No you won't. Now once you've dressed, get your cute little but in here so I can do hair and make up."

She was right. Revenge on Alice? No way, she would think of something much more evil then I would even think of. A girl could dream though

APOV:

Bella sat in a chair as I curled her hair with curling tongues and clipped it back with a beautiful butterfly clip I found. It went perfectly with the colour of her top, a deep blue. Bella was so pretty and she didn't even realize it. No wonder Edward wanted her, but Edward wouldn't change even if he found the girl of his dreams. He loved being a player too much. If he wouldn't change for his twin sister, who would he change for? Maybe Edward will just end up being a player for the rest of his life.

"Bella, please stop fidgeting and close your eyes"

I had picked the nicest shade of blue ever. It was smoky and added to the subtle-yet-sexy overall look of Bella's outfit. She looked striking.

"In this skirt Bella, your legs look like they go on forever. You really shoud wear skirts more often"

"Alice, I have absolutely no doubt that you are going to make me"

Well she was right there. Bella was more astute then I had first given her credit for. I wouldn't underestimate her, but I know already that she would never do anything to hurt me. We were going to be best friends forever!"

"Alice, what's your brother like"

"Emmet? He's amazing; you're going to love him. He's going to love you too you know. You can always tell if Emmet likes you or not by the way he greets you. If he hugs you, you're in and you can count on him forever. If he shakes your hand then he doesn't like you at all."

Emmet was amazing. But he only had to settings. Love and hate.

"Alice, I don't mean Emmet, you know that I mean Edward! Stop trying to distract me."

Oh god, she was asking about Edward. Maybe she liked him, he was attempting to flirt with her enough. All girls liked Edward. He was the hottest of all of us, except for maybe Rosalie.

"Edward's different. He had a harder childhood then most of us"

Bella just looked at me. I knew that I was just making excuses.

"He had the same childhood as you Alice, your twins."

"Yeah but he reacted to it differently"

He was always more sensitive then me, and my father never seemed to find satisfaction in hitting a girl; but when he wanted to, Edward would protect me. Not the cleverest thing to do. I was happier for Edward then I was for myself when Carlisle and Esme decided to adopt us. He deserved a break.

Bella just snorted.

"Look Bella, Carlisle and Esme aren't our real parents, we're adopted. Emmet is their child, but we came from a different type of family. Would you mind if I told you about it another time. One when my mascara is waterproof?

Bella nodded in assent and got up to leave. Her first class was in 45 minutes and it was right across campus; but before she left, she hugged me tightly. I didn't realize until afterwards that I had really needed that. Apart from Jasper, Bella was the first person I had told about our childhood.


	4. Jumping to Confusions

**A/N: At first, I was finding it really hard to write this story. But now with the hope of my very good friend My-Hearts-A-Battleground I'm getting some really cool ideas down! Just wait and see: there are some E&B chapters coming up soon!**

**Disclaimer: Twilight & all its characters belong to Stephanie Meyer**

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Chapter 4: Jumping to Confusions

EPOV:

I went to sleep thinking about Bella; I woke up thinking about Bella. I spent every god dam second of the day fantasizing about her. Who was I kidding, if I could have Bella in my arms for an hour, we wouldn't even have to do anything! I could die happy. If I could have her forever, my entire existence would revolve around her.

In that split second, I made the biggest and best decision of my life. I was going to stop being a player.

I _knew _that this was true but Alice, my first port of call would take some persuading.

APOV:

My phone rang; I was out of bed in a second. Jasper was supposed to call me to arrange a date for tonight! You can imagine my disappointment when, instead of Jasper, it was Edward's name that popped up of my caller identity.

"Edward, what do you want?"

"I need to speak with you"

I knew what had happened immediately, it was too horrific to even think about. Edward's life was going to have to change. With a baby around, he couldn't have a different girl on each arm for every day of the week. Who knows, maybe this would be good for Edward. And it would give me another opportunity to shop!

"I'll meet you at Starbucks in 10"

***

EPOV:

Alice agreed to meet up almost immediately. I was shocked; I thought that Jasper said they had plans for tonight or something. Shouldn't she be getting ready and gossiping behind Jazz's back or something?

I arrived at Starbucks 4 minutes early, so I ordered two bagels, one for me and one for Alice.

While I was sitting here waiting, I realized what must have happened. Alice must have cottoned on. She knew that I was in love with Bella! This would make life so much easier. For _both _of us!

Alice marched in through the door; she was taking no prisoners today!

"Edward Cullen, lets get this over and done with!"

"Chill out Alice."

My God, she was acting like this was the biggest thing since vegetarian jelly **(lol- couldn't resist) **

"Edward Cullen, you listen to me right now. Everything is going to change! Starting now."

My God, she could be menacing when she wanted to be. I thought that she had stopped caring about me years ago. Practically given up all hope. Well obviously not!

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about"

Alice's expression didn't look like she had just stepped in dog shit with a new pair of Gucci boots. It looked almost tender. But then again, anything would look tender after THAT.

"Everything is going to change now" I was in love with Bella. In love? Yes, THE Edward Cullen was IN LOVE. And I was going to make her love me back!

"Look, Edward, I know this is going to be a big shock to the system"

Yep

"But maybe it's for the best. Anything to get you out of your player ways"

Definitely

"Is it a girl or a boy"

"ALICE, IT'S A GIRL. DON'T YOU KNOW ME AT ALL?"

"Back off Edward, I was just asking!"

My God she thought that I could be gay. I think that I'm just going to pretend that she never said that. And how could she not see that it was Bella I was IN LOVE with?

"Let's just pretend that I never said that"

Thank god, some sense!

"Deal"

"So… Alice…"

"Yes, Edward?"

"Will you set me up on a, you know, date?"

"EDWARD CULLEN, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A BABY AND ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS ME SETTING YOU UP ON A DATE. AND I THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE GOING TO CHANGE!"

She leant really close to me. I was still trying to register what she had just said, so I made no move to stop her or explain.

"Edward, I thought that you'd changed, I really did. Well it looks like I was wrong. You may as well tell Tanya or which ever one of your sluts that it is to have an abortion; but she probably thinks that by having a baby you'll have to marry her. Fat lot of good it would do her. Married or not, you'd probably still sleep around!"

Marriage? Babies? TANYA? This was too weird!

"I just don't know anymore. You've changed, Edward. I don't know you anymore, it's like you're not even my twin. You're just a stranger, who coincidentally happens to share my last name.

I think that that was what hurt the most.

***

APOV:

It was lessons today and I didn't even care. I went back to my dorm, fell on my bed and started sobbing. Bella found me while she was attempting to sneak out the door without being dressed by me.

I couldn't do it; I couldn't even dress Bella up. How was she going to survive without my expertise fashion sense? She was going to be eaten alive. This day was just getting worse and worse!

Eventually the entire story came out. How Edward had knocked some girl up and didn't even care. He just wanted me to set him up on a date.

I watched the look on Bella's face go from stunned to horrified to angry to hurt to appalled and finally back to angry again. Edward was going to die.

***

BPOV:

How dare he? HOW DARE HE? He knocks up some girl and then has the nerve to ask Alice to set him up with me! I would never go out with him. He was the biggest player in the school! But I was going to give him a piece of my mind, and it I could, he was going to get a piece of my fist too!

I was going to go round to his dorm and punch him hard in the face, and maybe kick him where it hurts too.

APOV:

Once Bella had left, and I had quite a good idea where she was going as well. I picked up my phone to see if I had any texts from Jasper, he was the only thing that could cheer me up right now. I read the first one and felt all the blood drain out of my face.

I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.

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**Even if I do say this myself- I think this chapter's pretty good! I enjoyed writing it, and if you enjoy reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it then you'll R&R. Sorry about the cliffhanger, i just couldn't resist!**


	5. You Burn Too Brightly

**A/N: I started writing this straight after I finished Jumping to Confusions. Sorry to have left you on a cliffhanger, but long chapters depress me.**

**Shoutout: This chapter is dedicated to Twilight-Amy for being the first person to read chapter 4, she R&R literally 2 minutes after I published it. Thank you Amy, because without you, this chapter would have taken a heck of a lot longer to write!**

**Disclaimer: Twilight & all its characters belong to Stephanie Meyer**

**Chapter 5: You Burn Too Bright**

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BPOV:

I knocked on the door to Edward's dorm. I figured this would be the first place I should look for him. My next port of call was Tanya Denali's room. I didn't care where I found him. I was going to give him a piece of my mind even if he was in the middle of humping some poor deluded girl.

I wonder who it is that he's knocked up.

My mobile rang; I couldn't be bothered to answer it. I banged on the door harder, waited a few seconds, then let loose. First I started out kicking the door, then I progressed to pounding on it with my fists.

I was just about to attempt to kick the door in when it opened.

"You"

I practically spat this one word at him. Then, I slapped him. Hard.

"How dare you."

I slapped him again.

"HOW DARE YOU"

Another slap.

"ANSWER ME"

I saw a fuzzy blur zoom at me and then tackle me to the ground. I was about to retaliate with my fists, thinking that it was one of Edward's sluts, but then I realized that it was Alice.

"Alice, what the hell? Why aren't you pleased that I'm kicking his scrawny little head in? Isn't this what you want me to do?

Alice was saying something over and over again. She said it too quick for me to understand but when I tried to read her lips it looked like she was saying Elephant Poo over and over again. **(If you mouth elephant poo at someone, it looks like I love you. Try it!)**

Then Alice looked directly at me, stared me right in the eye and said, without garbling it at all.

"Bella, he loves you"

Then she blacked out.

But what did she mean, had she gone into caffeine overload. I wouldn't be surprised.

Suddenly I felt Alice's weight lifted. I looked up into the greenest eyes that I'd ever seen.

"We can take care of Alice first, but then I will explain everything to you"

"Promise?"

"Bella, I would do anything for you, explaining is the very start. But right now, we need to get Alice to a bed"

I couldn't help admiring the taughtness of the muscles of his back and the tenderness of the expression on his face as he carried his twin sister swiftly through the corridors of the building. We arrived at our dorm and he motioned with his head for me to open it. He was still supporting a now softly snoring Alice.

He walked into out dorm and set her down on her bed.

Then he turned to me and began to pour his soul out to me.

EPOV:

I turned toward Bella, took a deep breath, and began to pour my heart and soul out to her.

"Bella, I have wanted you from the moment I met you. I lusted after you, thinking that I could do to you what I have done to so many girls. You have no idea of how ashamed I am of this."

I looked down, my bronze hair concealing my eyes.

"When you snubbed me, like I was dirt, I began to look closer. I saw the brilliance of your heart and the purity of your soul. You are not like other girls; you have something in you that sets you apart. Whether it is your heart, your inner beauty, your wonderful mind or your ability to love, I do not know. I fell in lust with an image, but I fell in love with you, without even realising what was happening to me.

I couldn't even risk a single glance at her, becuase what I saw could make my resolve waver and I would be in danger of breaking down into tears.

I'll understand if you don't feel the same way about me, but I will always love you and only you. I can compare other girls to stars in the sky. Bella, you are not a star, you are not even my moon- you burn far to brightly for that. Bella, you are my sun. The one thing that lights up my sky. I would die for you, without a single regret. I'll understand if you don't feel the same way, but if you withdraw your friendship too, I think that I'll die."

BPOV:

…but if you withdraw your friendship too, I think that I'll die."

His brow creased and his mouth dropped. His eyes were fixed on the floor; I would swear that they were filled with tears.

I reached over and kissed the smile back on to his face.

* * *

**Bella &Edward- together forever! Tell me what you think!!! Romantic or Sappy? **


	6. Nothing Like Our First Kiss

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to What If I'm the Bad Guy for some really great constructive criticism, for taking the time to review and for really making me think about where I wanted my story to go.**

**Disclaimer: Twilight and all its characters belong to the amazing Stephanie Meyer**

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Chapter 6: Nothing Like Our First Kiss

EPOV:

She pulled back and I felt my face fall. She gently touched her finger to my lips. I smiled softly at the look on her face. It was pure bliss.

"So, what do we do now?"

Oh I could think of a few things

"Edward, Alice hates you. The entire female population of Dartmouth will soon hate me. What are we going to do?

"Some of the males might not be that fond of you either"

Bella laughed, she had a beautiful laugh. My mission in life was going to be to make her laugh like that at least once a day.

"Edward, if you don't mind me asking, why me?"

I stared her in amazement. She obviously couldn't see herself properly. On top of being the most beautiful girl in the entire school without fake boobs or a nose job, she was sensitive and caring. Not to mention extremely bright!

"Seriously Edward, I'm not a toy. If you try to throw me away like all your other sluts then I will make your life a living hell."

I pulled Bella close to me and wrapped my arms around her. She was so soft and warm.

"I love you, completely and wholly. Do you really think that I would leave YOU for TANYA?"

"I love you too Edward"

It was quiet, but distinct. I pulled up her chin and stared into her deep brown eyes.

"Say that again"

"I love you, Edward"

It was the best thing that I had ever heard

"I don't understand. How could you fall in love with someone in two days Bella?"

"I could ask you the same question"

Bella was right. But she didn't know the whole story.

"I fell in lust for you at forks. But it developed into something wholesome, something pure. All tarted up by Alice, I didn't recognise you. But when I did, I discovered that I had deeper feelings for you. I have always had deeper feelings for you; but I had never experienced love before. I only knew lust. I mistook them for being one and the same and will always regret this.

"Edward, I've been in love with you from the first day I saw you across the cafeteria. In all this time I've had to watch you with every other girl in the school but me. You can't imagine how painful that was. I thought that I wasn't good enough for you. That you would never want someone like me."

"Bella, you have no idea how wrong you are. I have always wanted you, but I thought that you were too good for me."

"Edward, I have always loved you. I have just hidden the fact under some less pleasant emotions"

APOV:

I came to in my bed. Edward was in the other room. With Bella. Wait a minute; Edward was in my living room with Bella? Oh shit!

It all came back to me in a flood of memories. Edward at Starbucks, me asking him if it was a girl or a boy, Bella's expression when I told her what I thought, running along the corridor to get to Bella in time to explain, trying to tell Bella what was happening but the words not coming out right. Edward must be telling Bella right now.

I'm his twin; I'm allowed to do a bit of spying on him. Bella's my best friend; I've got to look out for her! Really, spying on them was best for everybody. Especially me!

I emptied a glass of water by the side of my bed into the sink in my room, then pressed it to the door

"…Bella, you are my sun. The one thing that lights up my sky. I would die for you, without a single regret. I'll understand if you don't feel the same way, but if you withdraw your friendship too, I think that I'll die."

I was right, he was telling her. Maybe I should give them a little privacy? Nah, I wanted to see what he had to say. They might mention me, you never know!

***

It was just making out now. I swear I heard Bella moan Edward at least once. I wondered what I would see if I opened the door just an inch. It's not like they were, you know… doing it. Edward wouldn't jump her the first chance he had.

Maybe I wouldn't go in there, just in case. I really didn't want to see my brother and Bella doing it. That might just mentally scar me for life.

"Bella, we need to check on Alice"

So they had completely forgotten about little old me

"You're right. Let's go"

I dashed over to the bed, put the cup down on the side and tried to look like I was asleep.

EPOV:

We kissed for about 20 minutes. SHE LOVES ME. Then I remembered Alice asleep in the other room, although knowing Alice, she would have her ear pressed up against the keyhole.

"Bella, we need to check on Alice"

She hung her head a little, embarrassed about forgetting her; she was my twin sister though, it was my fault. I quickly whispered in her ear low enough for Alice not to be able to hear. Her eyes lit up and a wicked grin appeared on her face. Alice was going to kill us, but it would be worth it to see the look on her face.

"You're right. Let's go"

Bella said this loud enough for Alice to hear, just like I told her to.

We walked into Alice's room holding hands. Alice was lying on the bed pretending to be asleep. It was obvious that she was pretending, she could never keep still when she was excited and Alice was shaking like a leaf. It was quite funny really!

"She's still asleep"

I said this loud enough for Alice to be able to hear but quite enough so Alice wouldn't suspect a thing.

"Lets go, Edward"

"Ok"

I reached down to give Bella a kiss on the cheek, this was all part of the plot but I was looking forward to this more then other parts. I don't particularly enjoy being attacked by a tiny pixie.

Bella turned her head towards mine at the last possible second. When our lips met, I felt a spark of electricity run through my body. This kiss was not like our first. It was passionate, electrifying. I couldn't stop, wouldn't stop. Not for anything.

Alice rolled over and muttered something. An obvious attempt to break our kiss. The plan was to stop now but we just couldn't. I felt Bella's mouth open just slightly and I slipped my tongue inside her mouth.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alice sit up. She was obviously going to kill us, but I couldn't find it in me to care. Bella ran her hands up my back and entwined them in my hair, I light shudder rippled down my spine.

Truly, when God created Bella, he meant her for an angel. I was the luckiest man alive!

Two things happened at once to ruin my perfectly happy moment.

Alice started screaming at us. Now that I could handle. I couldn't hear what she was saying though because in that moment I heard Tanya Denali burst through the open door and scream

"Bella Swan, I am going to fucking kill you, you boyfriend-stealing whore!"

One screaming female I could deal with. Two was too much. It seemed that it was too much for Bella too because she ran into Alice's bathroom and locked herself inside.

I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, I swear that she was…


	7. Emmet: 1, Edward: 0

**A/N: had a bed weekend. Lots of people looked at my story on Friday, but since then I've barely had any hits and even less visitors. I went from 400+ on Friday to 20 today! I'm considering stopping writing! However, if I get more then 30 reviews by 6th March I'll carry on. (You can't just review over and over again!) I usually hate the people who beg for reviews in their A/N's but I'm really depressed by the response that I've got from this, I can understand why people need the reviews to keep going. I'd really appreciate some help here; anything: good, bad, happy, sad, requests… I just want to know what you guys think!**

**Disclaimer: Twilight & all its characters belong to the wonderful Stephanie Meyer**

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Chapter 7: Emmet: 1, Edward: 0

APOV

I had the situation under control in a second. Summary: Bella-sobbing in the bathroom. Edward - standing there with a look of horror on his face. Tanya- paying no attention to anyone but herself (as usual) and me, I was the only one with enough brains to be able to get this under control in the first place.

"Edward, get Tanya out now."

If he was planning on getting back together with Tanya instead of Bella now the opportunity has arisen then I was going to kill him.

"EDWARD, get Tanya OUT"

He looked at me and nodded

"Help Bella, I'm going to be the last person that she wants to see at the moment."

I understood what was going through Bella's mind in a heartbeat. In fact I was a little annoyed with myself for not realising it earlier. Edward understands, her thirty-second boyfriend but I, her (new) best friend didn't get it. AND I'm a girl; we're supposed to think in the same way.

While I was thinking, I was also knocking on the door of the bathroom.

"Bella, come out please"

"Alice, my life is over, I declared my love to a player who is now going to get back with his girlfriend and add me to his list of conquests"

Behind me I noticed an absence of screaming. That meant that Tanya was gone, thank god for that.

"Bella, can you hear that?"

"No, I can't hear anything"

"Exactly, Tanya's gone, she's gone for good. Edward hasn't lied to you. News just travels fast in a college like ours"

"Is Edward still there?"

"Bella, I'm standing next to Alice, Tanya's gone"

Bella's head stuck hesitantly out of the bathroom door.

"Edward?"

Edward scoped Bella up in his arms and kissed her softly.

"Bella Bella Bella, what are we going to do with you?

He was teasing her fondly, the look on his face was adoring. Bella and Edward were meant to be together. They brought out the best in each other. Without Edward, Bella would always be a little too shy, a little too hesitant. But Bella, even if she couldn't see it, had made the most difference in Edward's life. She had brought out is caring, his loving, his gentlemanly side again. I hadn't seen that side of him for so long; I thought that it was gone. I would owe Bella forever for bringing it back.

"Erm Alice"

Bella brought me out of my daze.

"Yeah Bella"

"Would you mind stopping staring at us while we're kissing? It's kind of a turn-off."

I laughed, and reached up to hug two of my favourite people in the world. Who now, were at last, each other's favourite people too.

***

EmmetPOV

Edward was going out with Bella again; apparently he was taking her to some fancy restaurant. This meant that he doesn't have time to play Guitar hero with me. I mean, whenever Tanya asked him out on Guitar hero night. He was all like "No way man" or "Sorry, no can do babe." Why couldn't he just dump this Bella chick so that we could all go back to normal?

Although I have to say, not having Edward and Tanya getting some in the other room is really good when you need a good night's sleep.

I heard the doorbell ring, it was Bella! This was the first time I was supposed to meet her, and according to the various people who had yelled at me, I couldn't tease her or anything like that. It was so unfair! I bet that this Bella chick is some stuck up uglier version of Tanya; Edward should just get back together with her.

"Edward, why don't you get back together with Tanya, I bet this Bella chick is just an uglier version of her"

I heard a gasp from the other room.

"Edward, that was such a girly gasp. Do you scream like that too?"

I walked into the room to see Edward cuddling a beautiful brunette.

"Nice pick man. Much better then Tanya"

The brunette, Bella I think, walked over to me.

"It's nice to meet you Emmet; but if you ever compare me to Tanya again then I will make your life a living hell"

Oh shit, this was not another Tanya.

"Listen, Bella, I'm really sorry if I insulted you. You know what a player Edward's been and I just assumed that you were another of his girls."

I really looked at Bella now, and she looked nothing like Tanya. She was beautiful.

Dressed in a midnight blue dress with a low-cut (but not too low) neckline, she looked stunning framed against the blackness of Edward's suit.

Bella turned back to Edward and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Have I ever told you that you look great in black?"

Edward smiled and kissed her on the cheek. Dam, that was a nice piece of ass! Bella, not Edward. Never Edward!

"Come on Bella, lets get going"

"I still can't believe that you're abandoning me on Guitar Hero night"

Edward started giving me evils. Well it served him right, he was breaking our tradition.

"Edward, you never told me that this was the night you hung out with Emmet and the guys"

"I know, but I wanted to do something special with you"

"Well tough. You're staying at home and playing Guitar Hero with Emmet."

Bella turned towards me.

"Emmet, phone Jasper and tell him to get his ass down here, and to bring Alice too"

"Yes Mam" I saluted Bella.

Grabbing my phone, I pressed the speed dial for Jazz.

"Emmet, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Bella and me looked at him.

"Edward, I think that that's pretty obvious, we're having a night in. Now PJ's, get them on quick. I'll get Rose and meet you down here in 5.

Edward, still with his arms around Bella, said

"Well if we're having a night in, we should do it properly"

I knew what that meant.

"I'll phone Jazz and Alice, you go to the video store. We don't have enough video's in the house."

Wicked. James Bond 1-6 it is.

"Oh and Emmet"

I was just about to leave the flat, having grabbed my shoes and wallet.

"Yeah?"

"I'll have Alice text you a list of acceptable movies for you to get"

Damn


	8. KISS otherwise known as: Living Hell

**A/N: Because I've had such a mental block on this story, I've called in outside help. My cousin Miranda has helped me all the way through this chapter and half of the credit really should go to her.**

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Chapter 8: Kiss (otherwise known as: Living Hell)

JazPOV

Let's just say that Alice and I were having some fun when we got the call from Bella. There was a lot of screaming and giggling; Alice with her uncanny sense of prediction the future had told me to bring my PJ's. Secretly (although I wouldn't dare mention this to Alice) I had been hoping that she had more in mind then a PJ party.

Alice entered, frantically texting away on her phone

"Dirty Dancing or Step Up 2?"

"What Alice?"

"I'm texting Emmett with a list of movies to pick up"

"Both!"

Alice smiled at me

"You can read my mind"

***

EPOV:

Bella and I were sitting on our love seat when we heard muffled sounds coming from outside.

Bella glanced at me, and then snuck over to the door. She wrenched open the door in one swift moment.

"Ha!"

Alice staggered in through the door, Jazz had pressed her up against it and they had been enjoying a steamy make-out session.

"You didn't see that coming, did you Alice!"

For a psychic, she could be so silly sometimes

Bella came and sat next to me. I pulled her on to my lap and kissed her softly on her cheek. Her pajamas were little hippos; she had never looked so cute before. She turned her head and kissed me back on the lips. But Alice humphed loudly making us break away from each other.

"Rose is in our bathroom getting ready for the sleepover"

Alice had a sneaky look on her face, she was up to something, I could tell. But to be honest, I wasn't sure that I wanted to know.

"Right guys"

Oh god, what had Alice come up with this time? Here we go!

"We're going to play…"

Uh oh

"KISS!!!"

NOOOO

"Alice, what the hell? I'm your twin brother! There is no way on this earth that I'm kissing you"

"Have I got bad breath or something?"

Oh God, she was pulling out the puppy face. No one could resist that trembling pout, those eyes filling up with tears

"Fine, I'll do it. But I want you to know that I think that this is one of the sickest things that you've ever come up with"

"Ok, I can deal with that"

Then Emmett entered the room.

"I got the videos guys. What did I miss?"

"The most warped idea that Alice has ever come up with"

"Cool, if Edward doesn't _approve _then it's got to be fun"

"We're going to play kiss!"

Emmett punched the air

"Wicked! I love that game"

Only to be slapped round the back of the head by Rosalie, who had just entered the room.

"EMMETT! I'm just going to pretend that I didn't hear that"

Alice blindfolded all the guys, including me, her TWIN BROTHER! Then for about 5 minutes all we heard was a load of giggling.

"We're ready for you now boys"

As you may have guessed, that was Rosalie in her most seductive voice. I could practically smell Emmett's bad breath from all the panting he was doing at this.

Small but firm hands guided me over to the couch. Crap, I was first!

I felt firm moist lips on mine. Well that was easy. This was obviously Rosalie, who else wore strawberry flavored lip-gloss to a slumber party?

Next I felt a small warm pair of lips on mine. Alice, just my luck! I was kissing my extremely twisted little pixie of a sister. I began having a panic attack. Only to be soothed when I felt that magical third pair of lips on mine.

Bella.

Thank god for some small mercies, Bella was an amazing kisser and whenever I felt her lips on mine, I forgot everything. (To be specific, I forgot that I had just been forced into making out with my twin sister- BY MY TWIN SISTER!!!)

I'm pretty sure that it was Emmett next due to the number of moans that were coming from someone who sounded suspiciously like Rosalie. All in all, we played Kiss for about 10 minutes. The worst 10 minutes of my life.

"Well, everyone's had a go now"

This was Bella speaking. I sighed at the sound of her voice. She carefully unwrapped my blindfold from around my head; but then proceeded to do the same for Emmett and Jasper.

Alice called out to me

"Edward, who did you kiss first?"

"It was obvious. Rosalie, then Alice and then my Bella."

"Emmett?"

"Erm…"

He sounded nervous. I was going to win this for sure.

"Bella, then Rose, and then Alice"

I stiffened at the thought of someone else kissing my Bella

"Jazz?"

"Alice, then Rosalie, and then Bella"

Jasper just kissed my Bella. It made my blood boil to think of someone else's lips touching what I had claimed for myself.

I waited eagerly for the results, but one look at Alice and Rose's faces told me that something was up.

Looking at Bella, I realized that she looked very pleased with herself.

"Pay up Alice, Rose"

What the hell? They had a bet on? Emmett seemed to be thinking along the same lines as me.

"Come on girls, what's going on? You had a bet on as to who would win?"

Bella answered him:

"Yup. And Edward won hands down. He got the order completely correct"

"How did I do?"

Jazz was asking this time

"Erm, maybe I should let Alice tell you the news. You to Emmett.

Alice and Rose grabbed their boyfriends and dragged them through to the other room. Soon we heard a lot of shouting, followed by some mumbled apologies, which were immediately interrupted with more shouting.

However, I have to say that I was only aware that something was up when I broke away from Bella. Until then the world could have ended and I wouldn't have given a shit.

"What's going on Bella?"

"Well Edward, neither Jasper nor Emmett got any right in Kiss and lets just say that Alice and Rose were not impressed. To be exact, they were livid."

I chuckled into Bella's mouth. We had just resumed making out: again!

RPOV:

How dare he think that I was Bella! Is Bella a better kisser then me? I highly doubt it.

APOV:

How dare he think that I was Bella! Is Bella a better kisser then me? Oh God, Bella is a better kisser then me. Jasper is going to leave me for Bella. My life is over!

BPOV:

Our make out session was interrupted by the sounds of two other make out sessions coming from the other room. I pulled away from Edward and grinned at him

"Hate is a pretty strong emotion, looks like love is too. Let's not go in there for a while, I really don't want to see make up sex, that might just cause temporary blindness and permanent brain damage."

EPOV:

I was going to kill them, there was no way that they were having sex when we were in the other room. Crossing over to their respective doors, I slammed on there as hard as I could.

"You have 5 seconds to stop whatever you are doing before myself or Bella comes in."

Bella took the hint and stood next to Jasper and Alice's door. I stood next to Rose and Emmett's. If anyone was up to anything, it would be them and my Bella does not need to see that.


	9. Revenge is the Sweetest Thing

**A/N: My cousin and I were so pleased with the last chapter that we decided to get writing the next chapter straight away.**

**Chapter 9: Revenge is the sweetest thing**

* * *

APOV

Jasper is going to die. Not literally, metaphorically of course. But forgiveness comes with a price and that price was going to be death. Metaphorically, _of course_.

RPOV

I need revenge! Emmett is going to die, literally! I'm going to rip him in half and burn the pieces.

Alice danced into the room

"Don't tell me… you want revenge too?"

"Yup, you read my mind"

"No, that's Edward's job"

"Alice, do we get Bella in on this or do we not tell her in case she tells Edward?"

"Oh, we're going to need Edward's help on this. This is going to be the biggest practical joke in history. And you know what they say: the more the merrier!"

"So, what do you want me to do…"

"Get Bella out of bed and in here as soon as possible"

BPOV

I was dragged out of bed by Rosalie, who manhandled me into Alice's room.

"Bella, we are going to get revenge on Jasper and Emmett and you are going to help us"

"As long as this isn't a get revenge on Edward thing as well and you're just not telling me"

"Nope, we're enlisting Edward as well!"

***

It was 2 o'clock in the morning and we were sneaking across campus to the boy's room. We probably looked like a bunch of whores going 'somewhere' for the night. But thankfully, everyone was still sleeping as they are sane people who don't play cruel practical jokes on people in the middle of the night.

"It's time"

Alice could be way too dramatic sometimes. She sounded like she was announcing the beginning of a thunderstorm so that 7 vampires and a human could play baseball. I mean, she could have just said: we're here, but no. She had to say: It's time. I wonder why? **(A/N: lol couldn't resist slipping that in there)**

Edward opened the door for us in his pajamas. It was hard to take my eyes off his bare chest, which glinted beautifully in the pale moonlight. Mmm, Edward. Yum.

"Girls, I've got all the stuff, lets go"

Our plan for tonight was evil. Pure evil. I have no idea how Alice roped me into doing this, I sure as hell regret it now.

My first stop was the boy's bathroom. I had to replace all the toothpaste with superglue and put jelly in the shaving foam. Oh, and I had brought along some chili powder which might just happen to find it's way into Emmet's mouthwash.

Job done, what next?

I walked into Jasper's bedroom to find Edward in hysterics on the floor as Alice drew a dick on his chest in permanent marker. She then proceeded to shave off all his hair. And I don't just mean the hair on his head…

Jasper's hair had always been pretty short, so it wasn't the worst thing in the world, but he was going to be mad as hell when he woke up.

"Edward, are you sure that they won't wake up?"

"Yup, I put cough pills in their beer tonight. That'll knock them out for a good 8 hours"

"Brilliant"

My next stop was the kitchen. I decorated the place with maple syrup and I unscrewed the pipe that leads to the sink. The next time they tried to turn the tap on, they might get a bit wet.

Alice had now added I heart dicks in permanent marker to his drawing. Unfortunately for Jasper, this was on his forehead.

I shook my head at Alice's evilness and went to check on Rose.

Rose was even worse. She had covered Emmett in some weird sticky substance that was red. Then she cranked the heat up in his room, considering that he had been knocked out by some cough pills, it might be a while before he woke up and when he did; he was going to be sweating like hell.

Then Rose spotted the ceiling fan in his room. Running into the kitchen, she got a bag of flour and covered the top of the rotor blades with flour. When Emmett turned on the fan, the first thing you would do when it was so hot in your room, he was going to get a little bit messy.

Alice was now beckoning us frantically from the other room. But as a final touch, Alice placed both Jasper and Emmett's hands in a bowl of water. Perfect!

***

EPOV

I was under strict orders from Alice to set up webcams in each room; I had another idea as well though. So, once the webcams were set up, I got my video camera from my bedroom and prepared for a long wait.

***

BPOV

Alice, Rose and I had drunk A LOT of caffeine. Only to find that Alice and caffeine don't go well together. She was currently bouncing round the room singing The Wheels On the Bus Go Round And Round. She had just got to the verse about the babies on the bus (for about the sixth time) when Emmett woke up.

The webcams had sound, so we turned it up as loud as it went and sat back to watch.

Emmett got up, only to find that his pajamas and bed were drenched. Someone had had a little accident in the night!

"What the hell?"

Now he was looking at the red gunk that he was covered in. He ran over to the fan and turned it on, which only served to cover him in flour. He looked so puzzled by this new development that we all awed at him.

Then he crossed over to his bathroom, where he first tried to run the tap, (I had rigged this one too) when that didn't work, he proceeded to get into the shower. Damn! We forgot about the shower.

So when Emmett stumbled out still covered in gunk, but with a new layer of feathers on top I was shocked. Good old Rose, you can always count on her.

Alice switched camera's to the one in Jasper's room, he hadn't woken up yet, but when Emmett stumbled into his room like a bear waking up from hibernation, he jumped up with a yell. Both the boys then doubled over with hysterics at the sight of each other. Jasper then caught sight of his hair in the mirror and let out a yelp of surprise. Then he caught sight of the permanent marker on his chest and forehead and screamed like a girl.

Yes, revenge is very sweet. Especially when Alice and Rosalie were your best friends.


	10. Strange Reactions

**A/N: Wow, I love my cousin. Three chapters in three days! Mental block: take that, hah!**

**Oh and by the way, I'm going to set my cousin on the next person who sends me a one-syllable review. She will come and squash you with her giant chocolate bunny (Easter present) and then where will you be? Seriously, check out my reviews. I swear I've had more people saying 'ya!' and 'lol' (you know who you are) that's why this chapter is dedicated to JaliceCullen (I kinda promised to dedicate chapter 8 to her but I was caught up in all the excitement about my cousin staying and I just plum forgot. Sorry ): I feel awful! )**

**Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure that I haven't put a disclaimer in a while, so just keep it in mind that this disclaimer applies to all chapters of 'College, Here I Come!' unless specifically stated otherwise. Disclaimer: All character's are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I do not own any of them**

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Chapter 10: Strange Reactions

APOV

Jasper really doesn't look good with no hair, and permanent marker? What was I thinking? Now I was going out with 'the freak.' I should have listened to Rose and stuck with turning Jasper into a human popsicle. He is going to kill me at lunch!

***

I saw him immediately when he strode into the cafeteria. Well, he was kind of hard to miss, and boy was he attracting a lot of funny looks. I mean, my god; it's not that funny seeing a guy with I heart dicks on his forehead. Surely the football jocks get that all the time?

JPOV

There she was, the little pixie I was in love with! Although I may just have to overlook that for tonight. Revenge is the sweetest thing, even if you deserved the thing that she does to you!

I picked up Alice, I swear to God she weighs less then a feather, and, ignoring her high-pitched squeals, carried her right through the cafeteria and outside. Emmett met me by the door carrying a very annoyed looking Rose bridal-style.

"Emmett, if you don't put me down right now, we will not be having sex for a month"

"Sorry babe, no can do. Under strict orders from Captain I heart Dicks over there"

"I made him swear that no matter what you threatened him with, he wouldn't give in"

That was such a good idea, I'm so glad Bella reminded me that Rose would play the no-sex-for-a-month excuse.

Edward then emerged from the cafeteria with a disgruntled Bella on his back. Bella didn't look to pleased with this arrangement but from the spaced out look on Edward's face, he was more than happy.

"Emmett, Jasper, why am I being kidnapped? I was in on the whole thing?!"

"This isn't our plan, ask Edward"

I winked slyly at Edward out of the corner of my eye. Then I watched Edward squirm under Bella's intense scrutiny.

EPOV

Oh god, did Bella have any idea what she was doing to me? All I had wanted was an excuse to carry her out the cafeteria and feel her small warm body pressed up against my larger one.

"Jazz, really, lying's a crime. You told me to get Bella because she had helped Rose and Alice with your torture"

It was believable, at least. But that was as good as it got when Bella was getting a piggyback on MY back. I think I had reached some kind of personal high.

BPOV

I could interrogate Edward later, because at the moment we needed to get inside. There was a storm coming and it was going to be big.

We were half way there when the thunder started. Lightning flashed across the sky turning it from blue to amber. The thunderclouds gathered quickly. Sitting in the sky like the softest blanket. Their colors ranged from blue to black. With the higher percentage being black. I was starting to feel scared. I'd always hated thunderstorms and the sudden proximity of this one was starting to freak me out. It brought me back to when I was a child, hiding under the stairs from the nasty 'witnin.'

Rosalie was screeching something about her hair getting wet and how Emmett was going to pay for this, but I couldn't concentrate on it. Edward broke out into a flat-out sprint. I guessed that he had noticed my discomfort. Emmett and Jasper quickly followed suit.

We were all drenched when we reached the boy's apartment. They were on the top floor, so the boys still had a little way to go but at least we were in the warm and the dry (and Rosalie had finally stopped complaining.) Then the electrics went out! Although I did happen to notice that a rather girly scream came from somewhere near Emmet. (Who wasn't holding Rosalie anymore, but I had a feeling that he might be soon.)

The blue-black skies changed to pure black as the night settled in. It was decided that the girls were going to stay with the boys tonight. The girls were for walking home but the boys (being overprotective, cocky boys) put their foot down.

"We did it the democratic way and voted about what to do. It was a tie, so suck it. You're staying here tonight and that is final."

That was Edward, as you may have guessed.

RPOV

This was so stupid; I mean we only had to walk half a mile down the road. But no, apparently we weren't capable of doing that. Just like we weren't capable of walking here on our own two feet.

Boys suck, although the thunderstorm had driven the thought of getting revenge right out of the boys' heads, or so I thought.

Emmett was the one who remembered, I always knew that he was secretly the brain of their mini-clique; even if he didn't always act like it.

"Guys, isn't this the perfect time to get revenge?"

Then the electrics went out again. There was a scramble to get torches and a lot of crashes as various people (Emmett) walked into things (everything that got in his way.) It wasn't his fault that he was big though.

"Right girls, time for some horror movies"

My god, he could be so stupid sometimes, even if he was 'the brain'

"Emmet, there's no electricity. That means no TV, no cooker, no heating, no Xbox"

"NOOOO! No X-Box? But I'm on level 29 of Rayman Raving Rabbits. I can't stop now!"

"We'll just have to have fun the old-fashioned way"

I swear Edward looked like a vampire when he said that; and the way Bella was leaning up against him with her eyes closed made it look like she was his previous meal"

"Bella? You're freaking me out, you look like a corpse!"

Bella didn't respond, she didn't even twitch.

"Bella? Bella!"

Edward was feeling for Bella's pulse.

"I can feel it, she's not dead."

"What's wrong with her then?"

"I don't know Alice, but I think that she needs to go to a hospital. Fast."


	11. Lodging Issues

**A/N: This chapter goes out to everyone who bothered/bothers to review our story with more then one syllable and some exclamation marks. My cousin's still here and going strong. I have created a fanfiction monster, she's addicted!**

* * *

Chapter 11: Lodging Issues

EPOV

The lights suddenly flashed back on, I grabbed Bella and moved her in to a lying down position on the couch. She was limp in my hands, soft and warm. I had never loved her or cared for her more, but I was so scared for her.

We all withdrew from the room to see if Bella would come round by herself in the quiet

"We need to take her to hospital, she could be seriously ill"

"Edward, calm down, if she was ill she would have been showing signs of it earlier. We'd know."

The lights flickered off and I rushed back to Bella. I tripped over the couch in my haste to get there, causing a major pileup involving me, Emmett and Rosalie, who naturally started screeching about her hair. By the time I got to Bella I was frantic with worry. How must she be feeling at the moment?

I ran over to the couch where Bella was, fully expecting something awful to have happened. I was not disappointed.

The lights came on, by now everyone had gathered around me. Everyone apart from Bella, she was gone!

We all screamed and Rose grabbed Emmett so hard he screamed in a falsetto voice that I'd only ever heard him use once before (lets just say that he got kicked in a VERY unpleasant place.)

Wait a minute, Bella was gone. BELLA WAS GONE!

Then I heard a sleepy yawn from the main room.

We all rushed in there screaming.

"BELLA!!!"

My god, my heart was pounding ten times a second and I was pretty sure that I was hyperventilating. My breath was coming in gasps and as I rushed over to embrace Bella, I almost tripped over twice.

"Yes?"

She sounded so cute when she was sleepy, I only wish that I could experience this more often. Unfortunately, after tonight, I don't know when I would. I better make the most of it.

"Look, everyone, we don't get to spend much time together. Let's just forget about this and enjoy the rest of the night."

"Great idea, I bet that we'll laugh about this tomorrow"

Yeah right, like I would laugh about this. I've never been so worried. But there was no way in hell that I was going to tell Bella that. I'd look like a complete wuss.

***

RPOV

"I'm sorry guys but our apartment has been flooded, we'll have to stay here for the week 'till it gets fixed. And we can't get in to our place because the water level is too high"

Oh crap, this means that we have to spend a whole week stuck here with a bunch of stinking men. I would never get the stench of testosterone out of my clothes. Emmett's testosterone I could deal with, but not Jasper and Edward's too.

"Rose, do you know what this means?"

"SHOPPING!!!"

***

BPOV

My feet were aching from walking and I had a stitch. I had been plucked, waxed, manicured and generally treated like a dog at a pet parlor. I didn't realize that a trip to the mall automatically included a trip to the spa as well. My god, I smelled like the back end of a perfume shop too.

EPOV

Bella looked radiant coming out of the spa, her hair was glistening in the sunset and waved slightly. But the look on her face was of someone emerging from an Iron Maiden. **(Like the Chokey in Matilda but a form of English Medieval Torture)**

EmPOV

WOOO!!! The girls were spending the week with us. I was looking forward to this, especially sleeping arrangements… Our apartment wasn't the biggest in the world, so the girls would have no other alternative but to bunk in with us boys. WOOO!!!

JazzPOV

Alice was staying over for the week, which should be fun. Classes were canceled for the week as an added bonus. We would have the whole week together. No one else, just us six crammed in one tiny apartment. It's a good thing us boys were used to sharing the space; with six of us it is going to be a little cramped.

APOV

I had a bad feeling about this week, like something really awful was going to happen. Usually I 'follow my gut instinct' but in this situation I didn't really have a lot of control over the situation. I'd just have to hope for the best. Playing with the boys would be fun, knowing them they would want to take 'Kiss' to the next (sick) level. It was too awful to even contemplate. And what about Edward? He's my brother, I'm pretty sure that 'stuff' is illegal with your identical twin brother- you think???

Bella asked me why I wasn't my usual bouncy-hyper-overexcited-highoncaffine-pixie-self. I admitted to her what I was worried about and she laughed!

BPOV

Now there was revenge in its simplest form! Alice makes Edward play Kiss with her- who knows what games the boys will think up (especially Emmett) and Edward won't try and protect Alice this time. I'm pretty sure he's just going to laugh and point.

APOV

Well I had 12 boxes of my absolute necessities, Rose had 14 (including GHD's that we were going to share) and Bella had 6. I had no idea how she intended to survive on 6 boxes of clothes, but that's her choice. I didn't pack her some emergency clothes in my boxes at all. Emmett and Edward climbed up the fire escape to get into our flat. It was surprisingly easy. We would have to up our security when we moved back in; the boys (being overly protective of us as usual) agreed and even offered to do it for us. We laughed in their face and told them that they would be of more use finding us the yellow pages so we could look up a real locksmith.

I was bunking with Jasper, Rose with Emmett, and Bella with Edward. I have to say, Edward looked overly pleased about this whole arrangement. We would see if he still was by the time Bella's stuff was moved in. That would show him!

***

I looked around Jazz's room. It was covered with boxes of my stuff. You could barely get out the door because my shoe-box was in the way. I mean how could I live without my Jimmy Choe red platforms or my Prada black stilettos? Even if I only wore them once a year, I couldn't bare to be separated from them.

Rose's room was much the same; only instead of a box full of designer shoes blocking the door, it was a box full of designer jeans. Emmett went into their bedroom looking very pleased, but emerged looking like Rose had told him no sex for a week! Thinking about it, there had been an awful lot of shouting, and knowing the problems that Rose and Emmett had with 'keeping the volume down' that was probably what she HAD told him!

I walked into Bella's room and I would have thought that only Edward was living there. As usual there was all the music covering every surface, but there weren't any boxes to be seen. Pulling open one of Edward's drawers, I came across a load of white panties and bras. If this was what she was wearing, Bella needed a serious makeover. This called for a trip to Victoria's Secret. Urgently!

I walked out of the room, looking for Bella but only to come across her making out with Edward on the couch!

"How did you unpack so quick?"

"What do you mean quick? Haven't the rest of you just been making out in your room too?"

"No, Rose and Emmett have spent the hour yelling at each other. And I've spent it surveying the demolition zone that WAS Jazz's Bedroom!"

"Oh, we didn't know"

And guess what they did next… they went back to making out. I could kill them sometimes.

It was clear, there was no other way to put it… we had **L**odging **I**ssues


	12. No Pressure!

**A/N: I got over 1000 hits when I updated twice in a day, so I've decided to update as much as humanely possible. I want 10 reviews for this chapter, and I promise, from now on, if you review you WILL get an answer (if your review doesn't make sense and isn't longer then one syllable then your answer may be a cross one! You know who you are) If I like your review, then you will have the next chapter dedicated to you and a sneak preview of the next chapter(s)!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight (yet) however I do own 61 posters of Edward Cullen! **

* * *

Chapter 12: No pressure!

Warning, this chapter contains sex and smutty talk (by Edward) so if you don't like that kind of thing… tough. It's not that bad, I just thought it fitted the mood of the story well.

EPOV (because a special person requested it-you know who you are!)

"The flooding's getting worse"

It was, the water level was rising. Slowly but surely, it crept towards the foot of our building. One of the professors stranded here had insisted on a minimum of six people per flat in an attempt to get people off the bottommost floors. Thankfully we already had six people so we didn't have any spotty scraggly boys bunking in with us. The professor was a little shocked when he saw that we had 3 girls staying with us; and he was even more shocked when we explained that we were all together. As in together together.

"We should all get some sleep. We don't know what's going to happen now"

That was Alice, she was shouting from the other room, where an ancient battery-powered radio was mounted on the kitchen work surface.

Suddenly, she came running into the room.

"They're going to airlift people to safety if the water level doesn't go down soon!"

Rosalie came running into the room.

"OhMyGodAreYouKiddingMe? We'reGoingToBeAirliftedToSafetyBySomeHotFiremenOrWhateverYouCallThem"

Alice and Rosalie started running around the room screaming hysterically. But thankfully my Bella didn't join them. Instead she whispered in my ear:

"Every girl's No. 1 fantasy is no be rescued from a burning building or a sinking ship or something along those lines by a topless member of the Civil Service." **(English term for Police/Ambulance/Firemen e.g.)** "Preferably one with a six-pack. It's just about as romantic as it gets"

"But why aren't you jumping around like a lunatic with them then?"

"Jake rescued me from a burning building two years ago. I already had my fantasy fulfilled"

I decided to skip over the fact that she had just said that her best friend Jake (haven't met, don't want to meet) had a six-pack.

"I only wish that it could have been you who fulfilled my fantasy for me"

She was good, she was very good. She knew my moods so well that she could even tell when I was obsessing over her past boyfriends. (Thankfully she assured me that Jake had never been and never would be her boyfriend. Otherwise I might have had to hunt him down and rip him from limb to limb.)

"Well, maybe there are some other, different fantasies that I can fulfill. I can think of a couple of mine"

And I could. Bella and I hadn't gone all the way yet and there was no way in hell that I was going to pressure her into it before she was ready.

"It would be my pleasure."

I moaned internally at the thought of this.

"I love it when you moan like that."

Ok, so it wasn't internally. Whatever it was, Bella was the sexiest thing that I had ever set my eyes on.

"Ok, time for bed now guys!"

This was Alice, and she had no idea how much I appreciated her saying that. I wanted to hold Bella in my arms so much. When all the girls disappeared into our bathroom (yes, we only had one bathroom between 6 people,) Emmett and Jasper just stared at me.

"Tonight is going to be torture for you, my sexually-deprived friend"

"Shut up Emmett, she'll hear you"

"At least we can touch our girls. By the way you've been looking at her tonight, I'm pretty sure you've been undressing her with your eyes"

"JASPER, She will hear you. Shut the hell up right now"

"Tut Tut Edward, just because you're not the King of Shag any more doesn't mean you have to take it out on us"

I jumped on top of Emmett and knocked him to the floor.

"I'm sorry Edward, I know you want sex, but I just don't swing that way"

They were driving me mad.

"Bella, can you get out of the bathroom quick. Emmett and Jasper are killing me here."

"I know, I can hear you imbeciles. You two, any more comments about mine and Edward's love life and I'll talk to Alice and Rose about making you as sexually deprived as Edward"

Both the boys shut up quick.

Bella is an absolute genius.

The girls emerged from the bathroom, Alice and Rose looking disgruntled with their boys while Bella had blushed bright red. She looked so beautiful; it took all my self-control not to jump her right there.

"I'm sorry that you had to hear that Bella"

"I'm sorry that I'm not ready yet"

"Bella, don't apologize to me. I'll wait for you forever."

I brushed my teeth in record time and walked through to the bedroom that I was sharing with my love.

"Hop in"

I was only too happy to obey.

Just as Bella and I were about to fall asleep, we heard noises coming from the other room.

I looked at Bella just as she looked at me.

"They're doing it aren't they?"

Suddenly, I heard noises coming from both the room to the left of us and the room to the right.

"Both of them" I confirmed.

"The walls are much to thin in this apartment you know."

"I completely agree with you. When they build student accommodation, they should realize the amount of sex students have and make the walls accordingly"

"I've got an idea, Edward."

"Yeah?"

"Why don't we give the others something to complain about?"

I looked at Bella; she had a little smile on her face.

"Are you sure, because I don't want you to feel pressured into doing this by Jazz and Emmett. They're only teasing me, I can take it."

Bella 'answered' me by pulling my face down to hers and kissing it with a passion I'd never felt before.

***

EPOV

Bella was lying on my chest, her deep-brown hair tickling my chin and her long legs wrapped around mine.

This was heaven.

In fact, I didn't need heaven if I could have this.

Last night was amazing; it was the best night of my life by far.

Trust a tiny scheming pixie to disturb my moment of peace. I should have known that it couldn't last forever. Alice came bursting through my door, only to stop dead when she caught sight of my room. Bella and my pajamas were thrown haphazardly over the room. I'm pretty sure that Bella's bra was hanging from the ceiling fan; that was going to be embarrassing.

She giggled.

"You did have sex last night, then?"

"Alice, I don't feel comfortable talking about this with my twin sister"

She skipped out of our room. It wasn't my room any more; it belonged to the both of us.

I heard Alice screeching, probably telling the others about what we did last night. Maybe they would give us a little bit more peace then, if they were so busy gossiping.

Dream on, Edward.

"Could you two be any louder?"

Rosalie and Emmett now interrupted my peace.

"Get out"

"You just Bella's virginity. If I find out that you pressured her into this, I'm going to rip your eyes out and eat them for breakfast"

Oh my god, I did. I just took Bella's virginity. Bella trusted me with so much; when I first met her I was a disgusting player, and now she trusts me enough to give me one of the biggest gifts that she could ever give me. Wow, I feel honored to have Bella's trust. I hope that she knows that I will never leave her. If she would have me, I would marry her some day. And if she won't, I don't know what I would do.

Bella stirred and moaned my name quietly. Rose and Emmett looked at each other and burst out laughing.

I motioned for them to shut the hell up but it was too late. Bella raised her head, saw me and kissed me full on the mouth. I kissed her back softly, and she pulled away, confusion showing on her face.

"Bella, we have visitors"

Enlightenment dawned, and she turned to face them.

"Would you two mind getting the hell out of her for about an hour and a half?"

"No chance!"

"My God, why is everyone gathering in our room?"

Jazz and Alice had now joined Rose and Emmett.

Bella turned to me,

"Our room? I like the sound of that"

"Mmm, so do I"

"Come on Bella, time to get ready."

"What for, we're surrounded by water"

"The water level's gone down overnight and the electricity's back on"

"All of which you would have known about it you weren't so engrossed in each other"

"What's the plan for today"

"We're going to hit the beach"

"WOOO, I'll get the barbeque!"

"Bella, you're coming with me to pick out a bikini, because I'm guessing that you didn't pack one."

"Nope"

"Thought as much"

"Erm guys, can everyone leave the room so that we can get dressed?"

It was Alice who answered

"Ok, but if you're not out in 5 minutes, I'm coming in. No matter what I hear."

With that, they all left.

I turned to face Bella and kissed her softly on the nose.

"Alice has spoken, we're going to the beach"

"Hey Edward"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not a virgin any more"

At that, Bella giggled softly.

"Hey Bella"

"Yeah?"

"Nor am I"

At that we both giggled like 6 year-olds.

**A/N: Ooh, first person to figure out what just happened (as in the second-from-last line) gets a virtual cookie and the next chapter will be dedicated to them! **


	13. Breaking Up

**A/N: I hope that you liked the last chapter! Sorry about the smut in it, there's a little bit in this chapter but not much.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight; I'm just borrowing Edward for a while.**

**Dedicated to: MissMusicLover and blackingcullen for really really great reviews**

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Chapter 13:

EPOV

"Edward, I'm confused. Why are we going to the beach if there's been really bad flooding the day before?"

"I think that Alice wants everyone to get out of the house. We've all been spending way too much time together. It's unhealthy"

Suddenly there was a high-pitched scream.

"This is so unfair. I hate whoever's done this, do you know how much these cost?"

Alice

"Bella, this sounds like a girl issue. I think that you should go help Alice"

Bella nodded reluctantly and started retrieving her clothes from around the room. She didn't notice that her bra was hanging from the ceiling fan, so when she wasn't looking I grabbed it and slipped it into my pocket.

"Edward, have you seen my bra"

"Maybe, maybe not"

Bella just sighed and grabbed another one from our underwear draw. OUR underwear draw. I had unlimited access to Bella's underwear! There was no way that I was letting her move out again.

Bella left the room in a short white skirt and a light blue top. I then realized that she was going commando thanks to a pair of lacy black panties on the floor. God this girl knew how to torture me.

BPOV

Last night was magical, wonderful. And best of all, we could both really appreciate it. Edward had never had sex before! My god, a player who had never had sex! He told me that he just wasn't attracted to any of the girls who he had used as arm candy and he couldn't… you know. He said he's been saving himself for someone that he actually was in love with. Namely me!

I feel wonderful (a bit achy) but nothing that I couldn't deal with. Not when…

Edward Cullen is in love with me!

EDWARD CULLEN is in love with me!

Edward Cullen is in love with ME!

Edward Cullen is IN LOVE with me!

Me!!!

I really can't say it enough.

But I've got to stop fantasizing. Alice needs me; my god if something's happened to her clothes, she's going to be seething.

APOV

He doesn't understand me at all. He doesn't realize that my shoes are my children. Without them, it feels like someone's ripped a hole inside of me. I feel empty.

"Alice please, I'm so sorry"

"It's too late, Jasper"

"I'll buy you all new ones, exactly the same"

There. Evidence. How can you buy new children, you can't replace something like that.

"Jasper, my shoes are my babies. What you just said to me, you offered to replace my babies. Yes, they would look the same, but I would know. Some things are irreplaceable and shoes are just one of those things"

Jasper fell to his knees.

"Alice, please, is there anything that I can do to make it up to you?"

"No Jasper. I'm sorry, but I can't live with someone who doesn't understand me. It's, it's, it's over."

There I said it.

Jasper started to cry, tears streaming silently down his handsome face. This was the first and only time that I would see him cry.

It hurt me so much to see him like this.

***

EmPOV

This was so stupid. I could hear Alice crying in Edward's bedroom, so I was sure that Alice could hear Jasper crying in his room.

If they both knew that the other was upset then why don't they get back together again?

Everyone says that I'm dumb, but I was the only person who had realized this. I was going to get Jasper and Alice back together and prove to everyone that I could be just as smart as them.

EPOV

I blame myself for this, I really do. If I had acted quicker when Emmet picked Jasper up and locked him in his and Roses' room then none of this would have happened.

Or if I had stopped Emmett from barging into my room and picking up Alice, then none of this would have happened.

Or if I had reacted faster when Emmett plopped Alice down inside and locked the door, then none of this would have happened.

"And you're not coming out until you've made up"

Emmett was the biggest idiot in the world.

I could hear Alice turning hysterical as Jasper started to plead with her.

"Emmett, give me the key before someone gets hurt,"

He looked at me

"Nope" he said, popping the 'P'

I was going to kill him.

"ROSE. GET HERE RIGHT NOW"

I tackled Emmett to the floor and tried to grab the key, but that man was built like a bodybuilder.

He kneed me between the knees and I doubled over howling in pain

I was still extremely soor from last night.

I vaguely heard Rose screaming at Emmett.

But then I blacked out.

***

I came to surrounded by chaos.

Someone had got the key off Emmett and had unlocked Jasper and Alice.

Rose was screeching at Emmett louder then I'd ever heard anyone scream.

Alice was yelling about men in general and how they were all pigs and should be shot

Emmett was looking dumbfounded, standing in the middle of the room saying, "But Rosie babes, I was only trying to help" over and over again. While 'Rosie' got more and more annoyed.

Jasper was curled up on the floor near Alice. His face was turned up towards her and every word she said was like a physical blow to him. His face was twisted up in pain and he was flinching constantly.

But where was my Bella, my precious Bella?

I felt something cold and wet on my head, it was freezing; I was about to grab it and chuck it at Emmett for being such a dick when I realized that it was a bag of ice.

Bella came rushing in from the kitchen carrying a wet flannel. I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep; I wanted to see what she was up to.

She put the cold flannel over my forehead and transferred the bag of ice from my forehead to my crotch and I felt myself involuntary harden at the touch of her hands. My god, that was painful.

Bella removed the bag of ice and glared at the bulge in my trousers and then at me. I opened my eyes and winked at her saucily.

"What do you say for getting out of here?"

"I say that you're to soor down there to walk never mind do what you have in mind"

Damn, I was going to kill Emmett.


	14. All The Things That Could Have Been

**A/N: Just to make things clear, both Jazz and Alice, and Rose and Emmett have broken up. Thank you to blackingcullen (again) and (as always) Jalicecullen. I love you two so much :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight- I think the fact that this is a fanfiction implies that and a disclaimer is a waste of time but whatever.**

**I've finally made it official and got Jalicecullen as my beta (phew) so hopefully there will now be less spelling mistakes and crap like that. Look out for comments from her, and make sure to thank her for all her wonderful work and her enthusiasm (check out her reviews for College, here I come! They're awesome!)**

Chapter 14: All The Things That Could Have Been

BPOV

The rain mingles with the tears on my cheek making it look like they were never there. But I can taste them on my tongue and I know that he can too.

The pain is unimaginable. I never realized that someone could hurt this bad and still go on. I feel empty inside; nothing has ceased to matter to me but him. He is my lifeline, tying me to Earth and stopping me from drifting away.

The loss inside me burns right from my toes to the tip of my fingers, every fiber of my body was chafed and raw. It feels like my heart had been plunged into a flame, wrenched in half and buried alive all at the same time.

But I knew that that this was not true. My heart was absent, and it was the hole inside me that hurt, not my heart itself.

* * *

It all started with the knock on the door.

The policeman who took off his cap… but not his coat.

The woman who offered me a cup of tea… in my own house.

The way the others had stared at me when I told them…Edward as well.

I could deal with loss, or so I thought.

But the sympathy was what caused me to shed my first tears for death.

* * *

I looked at the coffin, and the body inside. A shell of what had been life lived to the fullest. Why the open-casket funeral, I had been asked so many times.

But what if your spirit was trapped for all eternity inside a coffin, when you could be roaming free. Could that be hell? Nothingness? Or is that just death. Nothingness again.

As a child, I hated funerals. So when looking at the prospect of practically organizing one, I was horrified. They couldn't say that I didn't try though, I had all the preparations ready, all the plans made. But when I viewed the body for the first time, I broke down.

Edward came and fetched me in his Volvo. I was clinging to him so tight that he pulled over and hugged me till I had to more tears left to cry.

Whoever said that you could only cry a certain number of tears is a liar.

So we sat there for a long long time.

* * *

I watched as one of the only men that I would ever love was gently lowered into the Earth. I didn't know how I would survive without him. So many people would miss him, and none as much as me.

'Today is the worst day, I will be better tomorrow'

This was my mantra, my lucky charm. It kept me strong, it pulled me back from the brink. More then once, Edward had entered the kitchen to find me sobbing on the floor with a knife in my hand.

I saw the look on his face and each time, I promised never to do it again.

I had been so close to making the cut.

But so far.

* * *

Edward was steering me away from the graveside now.

Everyone had left, I don't know how long ago. But he had stayed, for the man buried deep under the earth, or for me? I don't know.

Each breath was a struggle

Each thump of my heart was a fight

Each step away from the man I had loved was a step away from the past, a step closer to forgetting him.

I would forget him, if it took the pain away.

No! I would never forget him. I vowed, right there and then, that I would never, ever forget him; even it meant that I would have to suffer all the torture and torment in the world. I would do it, for him.

* * *

Waiting outside the operating theatre was agony, doing it again was torture.

So many emotions ran through me as I watched two of the three most important men in my life fight for survival.

With the third standing by my side.

* * *

I cam back down from wherever I was with a jolt. _He was gone_.

I felt a hand rest gently on my shoulder.

The shoulder that wasn't being claimed by Edward anyway

"Bella, let's go home."

I looked back at the one lonely grave on the hillside, that could have so easily been two.

I looked at the two men standing next to me, that could have so easily been one.

Double the agony that I was in now.

Mourning for two rather then just one.

I couldn't bear to imagine it.

I would have killed myself rather then suffer that much pain

And someone up there knew that. And if he did, then he obviously didn't want me just yet. So I wasn't going to come uninvited, I would wait until I had an invitation.

But hopefully that would be years from now

And I turned around and walked away from one of the three men that I loved.

A father.

A brother.

A lover.

But which one had I lost?

**A/N: My previous authors note was much too cheery for this, but I don't change them. Ever. I'm sorry about this, but it was the direction that it was heading. I had been toying around with putting some death in the story when I read one of the most emotional fanfictions ever, naturally I took my inspiration from that and this is what I ended up with. Review, even if it is only to shout at me for making you cry. I know that I cried enough for everyone here though.**


	15. Phone Call

**A/N: Now, I know that you probably hate me for not updating for so long; but I ****was banned from using the computer. However, the good news is that my mum feels so guilty that she's promised not to ban me from the computer for at least 3 months! Go me :-D**

**Just to clear things up, last chapter was a cliff-hanger! You don't know who died yet!!! So please, no more PM's saying: 'WHO DIED' because you are about to find out!**

**Once again, thanks to my beta for her support and reminders to get started and do some WORK!!!**

**And double thanks to blackingcullen for being the best reviewer and friend that I could ever have hoped for, she truly is absolutely brilliant. **

Chapter 15: Phone Call

BPOV

I woke up today content. I remembered everything, some days I had woken up so happy, lying in Edward's arms, but then reality had hit me. Each time was as bad as the last. Each day, each step, each breath that I took, I felt like I was betraying him.

Charlie Swan

A Loving Father

A Valued member of the community

He will be sorely missed

The inscription on the gravestone said it all, there was nothing more needed. But throughout all of this, Edward was there for me. When I woke up in the morning, he would be there, when I went to sleep in the evening, he was there. Constantly, he watched me, watching over me. Like my guardian angel, I knew that I could always rely on him.

He was already awake when I awoke, like always.

I had a suspicion that he was missing out on sleep to watch over me; but I appreciated it. If he wasn't, I didn't know what I would do.

He was watching me closely, waiting for my usual morning outburst as reality hit me. Wariness turned to shock as he watched me smiling up at him.

"Don't worry Edward, I'm fine"

"Bella, do you remember?"

"How could I forget"

"Bella, I'm going to seem like the cruelest person in the world right now, but I need you to say it"

"My father is dead. Jacob, my brother in everything but blood, almost died"

"If you remember, what has changed since yesterday"

"I have come to term with my grief. I will not allow it to overcome it. My life cannot be ruled by the past because it will affect my future. You are my future, so letting the past influence the present is hurting not only myself but you as well"

Edward stared into my eyes for a long moment.

I stared back at him, willing him to believe.

"I love you so much right now Bella Swan"

He pulled back and stared into my face again.

"Oh God, I ruin everything."

"What Edward?"

"I said, I said…"

"Edward, you saying Swan is not going to affect me any more. My father is dead, he would want me to move on. I have had my chance to grieve and now it is time to put my grieving aside"

"Bella, it's only been two weeks. You don't need to do this"

"Yes I do, Edward. Look at you. I may be able to continue grieving for a year or even more"

Edward winced when I said the word year

"But you, you cannot protect me from myself forever. It is as much for your sake as for mine that I have to move on now."

Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me out of bed. He went over to my wardrobe and pulled out the brightest outfit that he could find. Unluckily it was also the shortest.

"What about this?"

I grabbed the skimpy garment and ran into the bathroom. Edward made a grab for me but I dodged him and remarkably didn't fall over

Pulling the short grey top over my head and grabbing the skimpy top he had pulled out I dressed quickly and appraised myself in the mirror.

I started singing softly to myself. I had no idea what I was singing, I'm completely tone deaf.

For someone whose father had died two weeks ago and whose 'brother' had almost died, I was looking pretty good. I quickly washed and blow-dried my hair, slapped some make-up on my facer and ran out the bathroom straight into my Edward's arms.

He smiled softly at me

"Have you had your ear pressed up against the door all this time? Who could I be talking to in there?"

Edward looked down, shamefacedly

"I love listening to you sing. It's beautiful"

If I had ever had any doubt that Edward loved me, it was dispelled now. His words inspired a confidence in me that I had never had. I was the luckiest person in the world right now. He played about 7 instruments and had about 3000 CD's in his room.

EPOV

Bella had the most beautiful voice in the world. Maybe she wasn't the best singer in the world, but after hearing her sobbing in her sleep for two straight weeks, her voice was like music to my ears. When I hear her sing I would always be reminded of this moment. How she jumped into my arms and whispered softly in my ear, blushing faintly pink as she did so.

I grabbed her and carried her back through to our bedroom. She giggled all the way there, gently nibbling my earlobe and kissing up and down my neck. I visibly gulped when she bit down hard on my lip and she kissed my bobbing adam's apple. This was a different kind of Bella then the one I was used to; but I wasn't about to complain.

* * *

EmmettPOV

I knew that Bella had been through a lot recently, but we had plans tonight. We were all getting together for another sleepover at Rose's place. Yeah, she had lost her dad, but she was two and a half HOURS late! That was like 5 rounds of guitar hero!

I heard Bella giggle. FINALLY, they were hear, better late then never!

Wait a minute, what did I just think?

BELLA was GIGGLING?

BELLA was GIGGLING!

"Alice, Rose, Jazz, come quick!"

"Where's the fire?"

Alice arived and froze at the sound of Bella's voice

"Stop yelling people"

Jazz arrived, he had a hangover from yesterday; he frove next to Alice

"I'm starting the movie, we've phoned them constantly and they haven't picked up. If they don't turn up in like another 2 hours, we can phone the hospital, maybe Bella's gone postal on Edward's but. Bout time someone did!"

Bella's giggle interupted my baby's rant

Edward walked in the door carrying a struggling Bella.

"Put. Me. Down!"

Bella squealed as Edward tickled her side

"Not until you admit it"

"FINE. I c…"

Bella just noticed us all staring at us.

Damn, smooth guys; because if Bella had really been about to say what I think that she was about to say…

I would have been able to blackmail her for years!

"Look guys, Bella's back. And she's not going away again"

Edward just stood there grinning like an idiot and nodding along to whatever Bella said.

I knew that look.

Edward walked carefully over to the couch, limping slightly.

I knew that limp.

Jazz, Alice and I simultaniously burst into hysterics.

"No wonder he looks so happy"

"Two and a half hours?"

"My god Edward, what will the neighbours think?"

Revenge is sweet , they stopped me from having FIVE Guitar Hero tournaments, I would stop them from getting a momnet of peace tonight. See how they like being the 'horny ones.'

***

BPOV

Yesterday was great! I was so glad that bella was back, I've finally moved on and I think that Charlie would be very proud of me. It was a struggle, whenever I thought about my loving father I wanted to burst into tears. But whenever I looked even the littlest bit teary eyes, Edward was always there for me. I knew that I could rely on him.

I walked in the door to our apartment, Edward had swapped with Alice while I was 'on holiday' and I was pretty sure that neither of them wanted to swap back. Edward slept in my room, and all of his stuff was in here though, so we basically lived together. Edward was the sweetest guy in the world to be with.

I looked over at my answering machine, a little red light was flashing.

Edward walked over and pressed play.

"Bella darling, it's Renee here. I want to discus your living arangements now that your father has _passed away"_

**A/N: Bad stuff is coming up soon, and if you don't review, I wont update. For every person who doesn't review (and I can see who you are) I will wait another day before updating. So PLEASE PLEASE review and I will update. Even if you don't have a fanfiction account, REVIEW!!!**

**Remember: Reviews=Chapters!**


	16. Explanations

**A/N: I've decided, you get one update a week. Two if I get lots of reviews. That way I have enough time to make things perfect with my beta, Jalicecullen. I really do love you! If you haven't already, check out my one-shot I think I just Fell In Love With Word Vomit. Please review and add to story alert because with the help of blackingcullen (I really really do love you) it will be turned into a fully-fledged story!**

**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer Owns Twilight**

Chapter 16: Explanations

JazzPOV

Bella is truly amazing, she was holding out so well. Imagine finding out that your father had died. I would have been dead to the world, but for our sakes, well Edward's mainly I think, she had put on a strong front. I think that she realized, if she didn't, Edward would have to suffer along with her.

She was the noblest person that I knew, apart from maybe the little pixie sitting on the edge of my knee. She was so loving and forgiving and tender. But mostly forgiving, I hope.

APOV

I am never going to forgive Jazz! My shoes are ruined; there was no way that I would be seen outside in shoes that smell of puke! 12 masterpieces that I've just had to throw away.

Even Rose admitted that there was no saving them, oh well. Let's just say that my revenge will be swift and deadly, it may also involve another embarrassing body fluid.

But which one to choose?

***

JPOV

Alice slept on the couch, she said that it was because she didn't want to take up too much room on my bed and I should get a good night sleep because I look tired. I knew what was going on, this was her way to get revenge for me puking on her shoes.

I suppose you're going to want the whole story now?

Thought so.

I had a little too much drink, and well let's just say that Alice's shoebox was nearby.

Oh well, I could deal with Alice sleeping on the couch once or twice, as long as this was the only revenge she enacts on me.

Wait a minute, why is my hand wet?

Oh, that's not all that's wet…

***

APOV

I had it ALL on camera; the satisfied look on Jazz's face in the night as he 'emptied his bladder.'

The look of shock on his face in the morning when he saw the bowl of water that his hand was in.

The way he pulled back to covers looked down and then pulled them over him to cover his shame.

But it was too late, the camera caught sight of the huge wet patch staining the mattress.

The way he stripped the bed while casting furtive looks around him to see if his little secret was about to be uncovered.

The way that, once the sheets were safe in the washing machine, he sunk down to sit on his butt and breathed a sigh of relief.

The almost comical horror on his face when Emmett emerged from the corner of the room holding a video camera.

Let's just say that Jazz pulled out his wallet pretty quickly, but bribery was never the answer to anything.

I saw this expression again and again on posters and T-Shirts all across campus.

Emmett and I had pulled out all the shots on this one. We even uploaded the video onto You Tube and Campus-Goss. The latter contained all the latest gossip about happenings on campus, let's just say that in the first hour 'Jazz's little accident' as we called it received over 5000 hits. **(A/N: Wish I could say the same thing about College, Here I come!)**

Jazz was going to slaughter me alive but at least I did it for a good cause.

EmPOV

I limped into the kitchen to get a drink.

I say limped but I should have probably have said hobbled

Or crawled

But I would gladly crawl if Rosie would take me back

Well she had kind of taken back

But I didn't have a limp for no reason…

Rose was STILL mad at me for trying to get Jazz and Alice back together. Knowing her, she would be mad for a whole lot longer as well.

RPOV

I watched the grovelling look on Emmett's face as he handed me a cup of tea. His dimples were the cutest things in the world.

"Emmett, you're forgiven"

I don't know what I was expecting but I was not expecting this

Emmett scooped me up and carried me through to our bedroom. We didn't come out for quite a while.

**A/N: (DO NOT SKIP THIS IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE) Yeah, this is the shortest chapter ever. So I will be updating really soon; I've just had loads of people wanting to know what happened to Alice's shoes so I thought that I should tell them.**

**Now, got some more good news! My friend Sophie (I love you!) gave me an amazing idea for a story and my friend Abi (I love you too!) said that I could be the one to write it. Now, I'm not going to give away too many clues but I'll give you a few clues as to what it's going to be about :-)**

**Title: Bella's Baby**

**Book: Twilight (duh)**

**Characters: (All Human) Bella & Edward OR Bella & Jacob**

**Which one will it be???**

**Just a little warning (and a hint if you look at it the right way,) the rating is M, HINT HINT**

**Now, I'm going to have a competition. First person to guess the general outline of my story wins reviewer of the month! By the way, Immi, Sophie, Gayle, Libby, Abi, you ARE NOT allowed to guess in a review. PM me please!**


	17. Decisions Are The Hardest Part

**A/N: Well, you deserved the wait for this chapter. You remember what I said about every time someone read this story without reviewing; I would wait another day before updating? Well now you know that I wasn't teasing. I guess that I'm going to have to do the same thing this time as well. **

**FOR EVERY PERSON WHO READS THIS AND DOESN'T REVIEW, IT WILL BE ANOTHER DAY BEFORE I UPDATE.**

**I really advise you to review, because I am serious. I didn't wait a day for every person this time, but next time I will. There are NO excuses. Everyone who didn't review, you only have yourself to blame. **

**Disclaimer: I may not own Twilight, but I do own 63 pictures of Edward Cullen, **

**No joke!**

Chapter 17: Decisions Are The Hardest Part

BPOV

Edward was still smiling obliviously at me; he didn't realize what the phone call was about.

"Bella, do you want to call your mum back now? I'll give you a little bit of privacy if you'd rather speak to her alone"

I nodded dumbly; didn't Edward realize what this was about?

Either that or he was glad that I was going.

Trying my best, I choked out the words:

"I wonder what she's phoning for?"

"I expect that she's checking up on your financial status or something like that. Making sure that you'll be doing ok now that you're living so far away from a responsible adult"

"Mmm"

Thank god, Edward wasn't trying to get rid of me. If he was, I don't know what I would do. My life would be over if I didn't have Edward in it. I had to make that call, I had to make my mother see sense.

I had to explain to her that there was no way I was moving back to Phoenix.

***

The phone rang once, twice, three times before my mother picked up.

"_HEELLLOOO_ Phil and Renee's house. How can I help youhh?"

"Mum, i… it's me"

"Well heelllooo dahling. It's splendid to heeeaaarr froom youhh"

"Mum, please don't talk like that to me, I understand that you feel more comfortable talking like that with the crowd that you hang around with now; but with me can you please be yourself?"

"Nonsense, this is my self; just the new-improved version"

"Sure mum"

I heard myself agreeing with her, but I also noticed that she had immediately dropped the accent. I felt sorry for my mum sometimes; she had got herself into a high-up marriage to an exceedingly rich man, but once she was in, she realized that she wanted out. His friends were all rich snobs, who immediately sussed her out as 'one of the enemy.'

That was when the accent came in. Actually, the accent came in around the time that she started drinking English tea and playing lacrosse. Oh, and about the time she stopped smoking and had botox. And did I mention that her boobs went from a B to an E cup overnight? 'They must have just grown _dahling._'

I hate my mum sometimes.

Oops, she was speaking again.

"I've made all the arrangements; college is unhappy with taking you in halfway through the academic year, but they think that you'll manage. Oh, if anyone asks, you love lacrosse. I put on your CV that you were a big fan."

"Mum, why didn't you use my normal CV?"

"It was too boring darling. You would never have got in with that. They want _spunk. _They want _fresh_. And you were none of these. But _Belle Swan _has spunk and fresh written all over her!"

"You. Changed. My. Name."

"I KNOW! I knew that you'd love it! Bella is just soooo old fashioned now. I'm considering changing mine officially. We could get both of ours done at the same time!"

"Thank god. You haven't done it officially"

"Well of course not, I've just been so busy. What with sorting out the lacrosse pairings for the big tournament and all that. Phil simply isn't up to my standard. You can try out, although with your sense of balance I doubt that you'll have much luck."

"Mum, can we just get something straight. I refuse to come up to Phoenix. I LOVE it here. I have a amazing, loving boyfriend; brilliant friends, my grades are amazing, _why _could you _possibly _have _any _reason for taking me out of Dartmouth?"

"Because I miss you. The last time I saw you was 6 months ago."

The pain and longing in my mother's voice was clear then.

"Well, I've booked your flight ticket for 2 weeks."

And the business like tone was back; her wall was up.

"WHAT?"

"That should give you enough time to round up everything at Dartmouth"

"Are you KIDDING me?"

"Nonsense, you're going to make better friends at the University of Phoenix anyway"

"Mum, that school is the poshest school in the whole of the state. I won't fit in there at all! It would be like entering a crossbred dog with fleas in Crufts and being disappointed when it didn't win." **(A/N: I know nothing about the University of Phoenix. So I AM NOT BEING JUDGEMENTAL)**

"Look, think about it this way: I am your guardian therefore I have custody of you. If I say you are coming home to go to the UOF then you are coming home to go to the UOF. Even if I have to get a court case to do it."

And with that, my own mother hung up on me.

I had no other choice. I would have to go home, because when my mother said something, she meant it. If she said that she would go through a court case to get me back home then she would.

But what am I going to do?

Without Edward, I am nothing.

Without him I am meaningless.

He is my other half. He completes me perfectly, and he says that he loves _me._

But I love him, so I have to do what's best for him. Edward would wait around for me, I think.

But two years is a long time, could someone really wait that long? Even Edward, no matter how perfect he is.

I only have one choice, I will have to leave him.

I refuse to enforce two years of celibacy on Edward while waiting for me; I'm not worth it.

So instead I will let him move on, although I never will.

This is the end:

I am moving away from Edward

From Alice

Emmett

Rose

Jazz

I am going home.

**A/N: Well, we've really got going on the drama now. If you want to find out what happens, you know what you have to do… REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!**


	18. Never Forget That

A/N: Enjoy this, because next chapter is where the fun really begins

Chapter 18: Never Forget That

EPOV

Bella and I were sitting on the couch wrapped up in a blanket. Snuggled up together, I loved the feeling of being so close, and knowing that we had hours left before we had to face the real world again.

Finding Nemo was playing and Bella was enraptured. Her mother had never taken the time to show Bella those old Disney classics, so I had taken her under my wing.

Tonight we were set to watch Finding Nemo, The Junglebook, Dumbo and Bambi. I chose them because they were all real feel-good movies and Bella had been down recently, but whenever I asked her about it she would act like there was nothing wrong.

It was starting to scare me a little.

"Edward, will you pass me the popcorn"

I wordlessly passed Bella the popcorn, to be rewarded by Bella's beautiful smile. I wished that it could just be her and me forever; this was my idea of heaven.

Curled up with Bella watching cheesy childhood movies was a perfect way to spend Saturday night. How many other teenagers could say that?

Bella was glued to the screen, her eyes following Nemo in his attempt to get home. My eyes were glued to Bella, watching her avidly.

She bit her lip softly and gasped, flicking my eyes back towards the screen I saw…

Animated talking fish

And poorly animated talking fish at that

But if Bella wanted to watch the classics, then I was perfectly happy to sit here and watch her.

***

I managed to drag my eyes away from Bella in time to watch most of Bambi, the last time I watched that it was when I was ill with the Spanish Influenza. I was 8, but I had loved the music. It was just as good this time.

Unfortunately, Bella noticed my interest in the characters and I was teased mercilessly for the rest of the night.

But at least Emmett and Jasper hadn't seen me watching Bambi, now that would have been awful.

Strangely, Bambi reminded me of Bella in a way,

The innocence, the beauty, the way despite everything Bambi went through, he was still the same person at the end. I thought it was beautiful.

My god, I really do sound like a pansy!

If Emmett ever heard me talking like this he would kill me.

Glancing over at Bella, I noticed that she was still crying.

Why? Bambi was a happy ending, and seriously, it really wasn't that moving.

"Bella, love, what's wrong?"

"No… Nothing"

"Why are you crying then?"

"It was a sad movie"

What is she on about?

"But Bella, it's a happy ending"

"I know, I'm just sensitive about this stuff"

I didn't say anything, simply reaching over and folding Bella up in my arms. Letting her know that I was here for her, that she could talk to me about anything.

Anything at all

"Edward, can we go over to Alice and Jasper's. Alice said that Rose and Emmett would be there and to pop round if we could make it"

"Sure, but I thought that you wanted a night in. What brought this on?"

"Oh, it's just that, well we haven't hung around together for a while. You know, just us and I thought that it might be nice…"

"Bella, we went round there like two days ago"

"I know, but I don't know when we'll all be together again. All of us, the way we always are"

What is Bella going on about, she's been really weird tonight, and know she's talking about changes?

But if Bella wanted to be with the gang, I was very happy to tag along.

BPOV

This would be the last time that we were all together, as in all together: Edward and I, Rose and Emmett, Alice and Jasper. Next time we saw them it would be different: Rose and Emmett; Alice and Jasper; Edward, and then Bella.

I am going to end it with Edward tomorrow.

Long distance relationships never work out in the end; it would just be selfish on my behalf not to end it.

Two years is a long time, Edward might want to wait for me, but I would never force that on him.

Maybe I will come back, see if he has moved on.

See if I have moved on

That was likely; I would never move on, Edward would always be my first and only love! I knew that for sure.

But would I be his?

EPOV

There was something wrong with Bella for sure, but she said that she wanted to enjoy tonight.

But I would leave that until the morning because I had been thinking recently: about how much I loved Bella and how I never wanted to let her go…

BPOV

We walked over to Alice's pad hand-in-hand.

It was 10'oclock

I was savoring every moment with Edward

Every step

Every touch

Every look

Because each step we took, each time we touched, each time he merely glanced my way; I knew that it was closer to the last time he would be able to look at me without loathing in his eyes.

And I would have to return these looks, instead of breaking down.

I would have to grow a spine, because I had made my decision and I was going to stick to it.

I was going home.

I was going to let Edward live his life without the stigma of a long-distance relationship holding him down.

I was Edward's jailer.

I was Edward's cage.

And if I was the cage, then he was the beautiful bird that wanted, _needed _to fly away.

And fuck me if I was going to be the one to stop him.

Instead I was going to be the one who threw open the doors to the cage and dragged him out into the air to fly

I just hope that he doesn't fall.

EPOV

Bella was her usual self around everyone, if a little down. I would be more worried, but before she went to sleep she whispered in my ear:

"Edward, I will always love you. Never forget that"

I don't think she thought I was awake, but that made the moment even more special.

It settled my resolve… now my only worry was whether Bella was a diamond kind of girl!

A/N: OOH, what's Edward up to??? Yes, this chapter was very VERY complicated. It was meant to show how Bella and Edward's thoughts are all twisted and they don't know what to do. So don't PM me saying that you don't understand- you're not meant to be able to.

**Review, let me know whether you loved it or hated it! It will take two minutes of your time, and you will absolutely make my day! **


	19. Commitment

A/N: I'd just like to say hi to Twilight Stilletos :D

**I'd really like to talk to you about some of your reviews, but I don't have any other way of contacting you- so I would just like to say thank you for some amazing reviews, it's people like you who really make me love fanfiction.**

Chapter 19: Commitment

EPOV

I woke up with Bella in my arms, her hair tickling my face. I couldn't think of a better way to start the morning.

Slipping out of Bella's arms, I made my way through to the kitchen, the fridge was pretty desolate, but there was enough in there to make my Bella the kind of breakfast that she deserved.

I sung while I cooked, dashing round the kitchen, trying to be everywhere at once.

Bacon

Eggs

Sausage

Bacon's burning

Flip the sausages over

Bacon's still burning

Eggs need to be taken off

Timer's going on the beans

Bacon's STILL burning!

But finally I had a breakfast worthy of my Bella ready and plated up. I grabbed it and was about to carry it through to the bedroom, where I could wake Bella with a meal fit for a king,

When I saw Bella framed in the doorway to the kitchen

"Hello sleepyhead, I was just about to come wake you"

I reached forward to envelope Bella in my arms; I wasn't going to kiss her at this time in the morning, my breath would be awful.

She came with a hint of reluctance in her eyes; and she pulled away almost immediately.

Looking up at me with those big, brown gorgeous eyes,

She was so beautiful, even with her hair resembling a haystack she could still take my breath away.

She took a deep breath, her shoulders rising and falling,

"Edward, we need to talk"

Well that was definitely not what I was expecting her to say

***

Bella and I took a walk along the riverside, but Bella seemed reluctant to come out with whatever she needed to say,

"Bella, I will always be here for you, no matter what you have done. I love you and I will always love you"

I Will Always Love You

Her words from last night.

Without them I would be a little worried that something bad was about to happen, but even in her sleep Bella loved me. Surely that counted for something?

She lead me into a children's playground, it was deserted. We sat on the swings, gently swinging back and forth.

"Bella, what did you bring me out here for. Something's bothering you, and I want to know what it is."

Bella was almost crying now, I reached over to take her in my arms, but she moved away.

Now I was worried, very worried.

"Bella, love, what's wrong."

"Edward, where are we going?"

"I'm sorry Bella, I don't understand"

But I desperately wanted to; this was eating away at my Bella.

"Edward, I'm 16 years old and at college. People my age are supposed to be out having fun, yesterday was a Saturday night. I should have been at a club, dancing with people that I've never met before."

She looked down

"Not sitting inside with my boyfriend watching stupid movies"

"Bella, what are you trying to say? Do you want to go out more?"

This just seemed to agitate her even more, but I just couldn't understand what she was getting at.

"Edward, I'm 16 and I'm in a serious relationship."

"So are Alice and Jasper; Rosalie and Emmett"

"This is different"

"It's exactly the same"

"Edward, would you please just listen to me for a second!"

"I am listening to you"

Bella lowered her voice, she had been practically yelling at me. But why?

"Edward, we are 16 and in college."

"Bella, we are 16 and in love. That's what actually matters."

"Look, Edward, I am looking for a serious commitment. Emmett is going to propose to Rosalie one day; Jasper is going to propose to Alice. I… I just don't see you ever proposing to me."

I was silent.

Bella thought that I wasn't taking our relationship seriously enough.

She couldn't be more wrong.

"Bella, I take our relationship very seriously. I love you, isn't that enough?"

"It used to be Edward, but now I'm not sure any more."

My love was shaking with emotion

"Edward, when I think about our future I come up blank. I can't picture our house, our jobs, our… our children."

She whispered the word children, and I had to strain to catch it.

"Bella, all this week I have been thinking about how lucky I am to have you. _I _can imagine our life together; I can see it in my mind. I don't want anyone else, only you. I want to wake up in the morning and see your face, I want to go to sleep in the evening with you beside me."

The next words Bella said broke my heart.

"Give up Edward, it's too late. We're through."

She had broken up with me, just like that.

She broke my heart in two,

No, she didn't break my heart in two; she ripped it out of my body and took it with her.

Wait, I must be able to save this somehow. If Bella wanted a commitment, then a commitment she would get.

I ran after her, she was walking away from me briskly without looking back.

"Bella wait"

She half turned, but by then I had caught up with her.

"Bella, you are the love of my life. My other half."

She seemed about to say something.

I grabbed her hand, getting down on one knee.

"Isabella Marie Swan, I promise to love you forever, you are the only person who has ever captured my heart. Isabella, Bella, Will You Marry Me?"

I held my breath and waited for her answer.

I had just asked the woman I love to marry me.

"No"

And she pulled her hand out of mine and walked away,

Leaving me kneeling in the mud.


	20. Family Matters

**A/N: This chapter was so hard for me to write, I have about 7 alternative endings and about 3 completely written chapters. But this one just hit me while I was replying to a review. Where would Edward go if he were falling apart? His piano of course!**

**Disclaimer: unfortunately Stephanie owns Twilight Characters but, I have a new story coming up!**

Chapter 20: Family Matters

EPOV

"I haven't eaten in two days

But I haven't wept in four.

I haven't laughed in forever

And I can't bring myself to open the door

Something inside me had been broken

It's just been plain ripped away

And every word that was spoken

It burns me, like a flame."

My fingers flew across the piano, my voice loud and clear; and even I could hear the raw emotion that it contained.

It had been two weeks since the love of my life had left me.

Two weeks since she had broken my heart

Not broken it, simply stolen it.

Wrenched it out of my chest

And then stomped it into the muddy ground

Along with my dignity.

I know that I should be angry with her, but I simply couldn't bring myself to be. I wanted what was best for her and there were so many people better for her then me.

I went back to my piano, the hours melting away

The future drawing nearer

"Memories past and present

Tell me nothing bout what the future hold

I tell myself to get over her

But I just watch myself getting old

So I'll sit at the piano and worship her

Down to the sound of her voice

And hope that she will come back to me

Cos' it's not like I have a choice."

I felt my head crash down on the piano, interrupting what was probably the most beautiful song that I've ever written.

But I just couldn't hold back the sobs any more.

BPOV

I had been assured over and over again that _he _would not be there, yet I had a suspicion that I was being duped

Nevertheless, I desperately needed my possessions

And no one would get them for me

So when I heard his soft husky voice,

I was not entirely surprised.

I was surprised though, when my feet started walking towards the door

Turn around; I tried to tell them.

But when I was close enough to hear the soft chords echoing underneath the words

I knew that there was no turning back

And when I was close enough to hear the pure, unsullied _agony _in his voice

I thought that my heart would break

The when I was close enough to hear the lyrics, so passionate and beautiful

My heart broke in two

***

I knew that I should go, run as fast as possible away and never tell anyone that I had been here, had heard his tribute to me.

But I was captivated, enthralled by the music.

It had woven a spell, tying me to him

I couldn't have moved, even if deep down, I had wanted to.

Unexpectedly his head came crashing down on the piano keys, breaking the spell that had bound me to him.

I let out a small sob, so soft that I barely heard it

But he did.

He turned, his piercing green eyes full of hope, longing and countless other emotions that I was too much of a coward to face.

Love.

I turned and ran blindly, not caring where I was headed,

Only caring about what was behind me, what I was running from.

Love.

EPOV

I heard the softest of whimpers; I almost didn't catch it,

But something made me turn

Our eyes met across the room

Bound by the music I had created

I didn't care about why she was here

I didn't even stop to think

I was captivated by her eyes, and as they met mine I saw countless emotions in them that I struggled to interpret.

Love

Regret

Sadness

Pain

Wait a minute, _love?_

But before I had truly interpreted this new emotion that I thought I had lost forever, Bella was gone

I had lost her for the second time

And even though I had thought it impossible; it hurt just as much as last time.

***

I waited too long, I let myself wallow in the misery of losing her again for just a moment,

But that was all it took for her to disappear.

There was no way that I was going to lose her again; I loved her too much to let that happen. This time I would try to make things clear for the both of us.

Because technically Bella had never told me that she wasn't in love with me anymore. And if the emotions that I had seen reflected in Bella's chocolate orbs were true, if there was one spark of love left for me deep deep down, then I would fight for her with my last breath.

I would just have to hope that it didn't come to that.

But if she didn't want me anymore, didn't care for me the way I cared for her, then I would step down, I would give up the fight.

I would clear the way for the countless men who would fall in lust for Bella before she found her true love

And I would be wishing, every second, every minute, every hour, ever year, that it could have been me, that it could have been me that she found her happy ever after with.

Until she told me though, I would fight for her. I would fight to win back the heart of the woman that I loved.

Starting. Now.

***

I had been searching for Bella for about 3 hours now.

With no luck.

But I had finally reached the last place that I thought Bella could be.

But not only could Bella possibly be there, but Alice, Jazz, Emmett and Rose were definitely in there, waiting for me.

They had taken to all eating together, but I had never worked up the courage to ask if Bella ate with them.

I had never had the courage to ask.

At first, simply hearing Bella's name would send me into fits of despair, the last time that I had cried was when I was eight, I fell out of a tree and broke my arm; but now, something so simple as a picture of us together, happy could set me off- and there were plenty of those.

Now knowing that Bella was a two-minute run away from me was comforting. If I didn't have that, and the occasional glimpses of Bella around campus- when I bothered to leave the house that is, was just enough to keep me sane

But only just.

Reaching the cafeteria, I searched desperately around for her familiar, beautiful face. I caught sight of Emmett, Alice, Jazz and Rose in the furthest corner; but I carried on searching, desperate for a glimpse of my angel.

I had to examine every corner of the cafeteria twice before I had to accept that she wasn't there.

Dejectedly I stumbled towards my friends in the hope that they knew where she was.

"Edward, what are you doing here?"

"Have you seen Bella?"

But no one had.

"The last time I saw her was yesterday, I told her when you were going to be at your English lesson today so she could swing by and pick up her stuff."

"I don't have English today"

Emmett simply shrugged

"My bad"

I could have throttled him right then, but I refrained. He wouldn't help me find Bella if I throttled him now.

Alice was talking to me again

"Edward, Emmett said that you were composing again, can we hear it?"

Alice really didn't understand, this song was special. This song was for Bella, this song _was _Bella.

"No"

"But Edward, I always hear your stuff"

"I said no, Alice!"

I briefly saw the hurt look on Alice's face

But I closed my eyes so that I didn't have to see.

I heard high-heels tottering across the tiled floor of the cafeteria in my direction. Normally I would have turned to make sure that it wasn't Bella, but my Bella wasn't vain enough to wear high-heels around campus.

I tried in vain to block out the mundane chatter of teenagers whose hearts hadn't been torn in two.

Relaxing even more, I slumped down in my chair and spread my legs, my eyes were still closed.

Alice was talking but I just blocked her out

But merely seconds later my eyes flew open, as someone had straddled my lap.

Hoping beyond hope, I opened my eyes:

And stared into deep brown orbs… caked in bright silver eye shadow, thick clumpy mascara and gaudy pink eyeliner!

Wait a minute, that wasn't Bella… that was Tanya!

"I heard that you dumped Betsy on the grape vine, it took you long enough! But I'm willing to overlook that just for you, EddieBwear"

Tanya whispered right in my ear, while grounding herself into me, obviously hoping to get a reaction out of me.

Fat chance.

I tried to pull back, and get Tanya off me but it was too late, she pressed her plastic, botoxed lips to mine and kissed me.

BPOV

I entered the cafeteria to silence, is was rather eerie

Everyone seemed to be staring at something… or someone.

Tanya had straddled someone in the middle of the cafeteria and the way he was squirming underneath her made it look like he was desperately trying to gain some friction.

Whoever it was sitting at a table with Emmett, Rose, Alice and Jazz, but who was it?

It was then that I recognized the unruly bronze hair that Tanya was raking her nails through.

Edward

He had moved on already.

And by the looks of it, he had gone back to his old ways

His _player _ways.

This was my worst nightmare; this was worse then my worst nightmare. Because in my nightmares Edward and I were always fighting the monster together,

Now _he _was the monster who had betrayed me

And I was alone.

EPOV

Emmett pulled Tanya off me, finally, and I looked round the cafeteria. Everyone's eyes were on me.

I had to make Tanya realize how much I hated her, as publicly as possible; I had to show her that I didn't want her.

And then I had to find Bella before she found out and explain what had happened to her, because she was going to think…

It was then that I saw her, standing by the entrance to the room. She turned and fled though, tears falling from her eyes so fast that there was no way she could have seen me.

But I saw her, and I saw the betrayal in her eyes.

It didn't matter that she had rejected me; in that moment all was forgotten.

I spat onto the floor, wiped my mouth onto my sleeve, and turned to my friends:

"Deal with her"

Emmett nodded, showing that he understood

Alice pounced.

I heard the resounding smack echo through the room, but no more

I was already running.

***

The rain had soaked her through to her skin by the time I found her, making her top almost see-through.

The rain had mixed with the tears on her face, her eyes were red and her body shook with dry sobs- she had long ran out of tears to cry.

She had never looked more vulnerable, or more beautiful to me.

I crouched down next to her; she was lying curled up in a ball on the ground. I wouldn't have seen her if not for one of her purple converse sticking out from behind the bush.

"Bella, it's me"

She didn't respond

"Bella please, it's me Edward"

No response

"Bella! Look at me!"

I grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently.

She recoiled from my touch

"E… Edward. What do you want? Haven't you hurt me enough?"

"Bella I swear, Tanya jumped on me"

"It didn't look like that to m m m me"

Her teeth were chattering from the cold and the pain combined

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"Edward, didn't you hear what I said in the park, we're over."

I thought that she was going to tare me in half when she said that

"Please Bella, I'll do anything for you"

"Then just leave"

"Anything apart from that"

"P P P Please Edward"

I felt a tingle run down my spine when she said my name. It sounded amazing coming from her plump lips.

So much better then '_EddieBwear' _

"Bella, if you're still mad at me about the kiss with Tanya I can assure you that I did everything possible to get her off me without physically attacking her. I couldn't hit a woman, Esme raised me better than that"

"Edward"

Bella's eyes met mine, she softly climbed to her feet and I followed her up.

"I couldn't give a shit who you kiss, I'm not your girlfriend anymore. You don't need to explain yourself to me"

It wasn't the words that hurt the most, it was the condescending tone in which she said it.

As if she was speaking to a two year-old.

I sunk to the ground holding my head in my hands.


	21. Arrangements

**A/N: Sorry about the time between updates. I would apologize as usual but I'm guessing that you're all pretty annoyed with me at the moment so I'm just going to shut up now :(**

**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all Twilight related things. :(**

Chapter 21: Arrangements

BPOV

I heard Alice come in through the front door, shutting it quietly in the hopes that she wouldn't wake us up.

"That you Alice?"

Rose was calling from her bedroom; I thought that she was long asleep.

"Yeah Rose, it's me. Can we have a chat?"

"OK, Alice, I'm just going to check on Bella"

I froze, there was no way that I could fake sleep, and at four in the morning any sane person would have been asleep hours ago. But sane people didn't break their perfect boyfriend's heart almost two weeks ago.

"Well Bella's kind of what I want to talk to you about."

I dived back into bed, determined to hear what they were saying

Rose opened my door and stuck her head and looked round, to check on me, probably to make sure that I hadn't done anything stupid.

Like killing myself.

I hadn't come to that, yet.

Rose looked at me and I could feel her glare. I was pretty sure that she knew I was awake, but then I had a stroke on inspiration

"Edward" I muttered, rolling over. "Edward, no"

I could imagine the smile on Rose's face when I said that, but instead I heard her sigh.

"Rose, is Bella asleep" Alice shouted from the kitchen.

"Yes, for about the first time since… you know"

"Thank god Rose, I'm so worried about her"

"So am I Alice"

I listened numbly while they talked about me. I caught a few words, but after about two minutes I tuned out. I couldn't listen any more, but I couldn't help hearing some things.

"Catatonic… won't eat, won't sleep… lost so much weight… so behind on schoolwork… have you seen her eyes?"

But it was Alice's words that got through to me most:

"I just can't understand why she would do it, they were so happy together"

It was at that point when I couldn't take any more. I stormed into the room.

"Would you two mind not discussing me while I am still in the apartment, or would it be more convenient if I went somewhere else?"

"Finally Bella, we've been talking about you for over an hour!"

"Oh and Bella, you really can't fake sleep!"

"So you two knew that I was awake and…"

"And wanted to make you react _so that we can talk about this." _Alice interrupted.

"There's nothing to talk about. Edward and I broke up. The. End."

"No, not the end! Why the hell did you two break up?"

"We just weren't working as a couple"

"Bullshit Bella, you were like each other's better half"

I broke down, Alice and Rose were going to have to find out sometime, there would be hell to pay if I just vanished into thin air one day.

"I'm moving" I blurted out while Alice and Rose stared at me, horrified.

It was Rose who pulled herself together first.

"Bella, you breaking up with Edward wouldn't have anything to do with some strange prejudice that you have against long-distance relationships would it?" Rose whispered brokenly

Alice pulled herself together long enough to choke out "when?" before clinging to me and collapsing into a chair.

"Saturday"

"But Bella, that's only four days away!"

"I know" I whispered.

It quickly became too much for Rose as well, she staggered and sunk on to the chair that I quickly pulled out for her.

Shock had rendered two of the people I loved most in the world speechless.

"Wait a minute, let's just recap why you, the best thing that ever happened to my brother, broke up with said brother. And you better have a good reason because apparently blood is stronger then water is so last year."

I sighed, classic Alice

"Alice, I'm 16 and in College. I want to go to university after this and so does Edward. People just don't fall in love at 16"

Alice glared at me, and I realized that I'd just made a big mistake. I backtracked quickly.

"Did I say never? I didn't mean never. Now that was a very stupid thing for me to say! Of course people like you can fall in love at 16, but you have found your soul mate, you will be together forever and ever and ever! People like me; normal ugly people like me don't usually fall in love at this age. Especially when they've just got into Dartmouth College and wanted to continue on at Dartmouth University until their stupid interfering mother stuck her plastic nose in."

"But Bella, let me just make something very clear to you. You and Edward are IN LOVE!"

"Alice, I will not tie him down like that; long-distance relationships are hard enough, but when you add an overprotective mother made of plastic and stitched together with 100 dollar bills into the mix up- you know what it makes? It makes mayhem. Bloody mayhem."

"He would wait for you, you know that don't you?"

I sighed. "I could never ask something like that of him, even if he would"

Rose snorted "and now you've introduced him to the wonderful world of sex, as soon as you've gone he'll probably start fucking anything with two legs and a pussy"

I glared at Rose, were we even talking about the same guy?

"_Edward_ will never go around acting like that. He's been a player before and he didn't take the opportunity to 'fuck anything with two legs' so why should he be anything different now?"

"Because you're going to break his heart" Rose seethed before storming out the room"

Rose leaving felt like a betrayal, if she acted like this then what would Edward be like if I told him the truth?

Alice looked at me "She'll be back in a few minutes, she's just upset that we're being torn apart"

"How do you know?"

Alice shrugged "I just do"

Sure enough, Rose emerged from her bedroom with puffy eyes and blotchy skin. She enveloped me in a firm hug.

"Sorry Bella, that was completely uncalled for."

"No Rose, in fact it was completely called for! It didn't change my mind, but you came closer then anyone else. It was worth a try."

Alice wrapped her stick arms around the two of us and gently rocked us back and forth.

"Things will work out in the end," she crooned.

But that just brought on another round of tears, where I cried for my lost lover but Alice and Rose cried for the quickly disappearing happiness that had once been ours.

***

After several tubs of ice cream, several more rounds of tears and some girl time that I had desperately needed, we were ready to talk about the future. We had already discussed the present, and there was no way that I was going to be ready to talk about the past yet. Not while it was just behind the last corner.

"So Bella, what are you doing to commemorate the time that we've had together?"

I sighed

"Trust you to want to party, I'll feel like you're celebrating me leaving"

Now that was a brainwave, looks like I wasn't having a leaving do after all!

But Alice had a solution for everything.

"Fine, we'll just have to go to a restaurant in town"

"Which one?"

I sighed, but it was better then going to some sweaty club, now Edward wasn't around I would be susceptible to the advances of dirty old men and greasy haired teenagers.

"Well I was thinking of the Sugared Plumb"

"Fine, but you're paying!" Giving in to Alice was so much easier then fighting against her. Fighting against her was like fighting a tornado- impossible and deadly.

"Duh! My treat" Alice said, smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

"Ok, but I have one condition Alice"

"As long as it's within reason"

Rolling my eyes at her, I explained my one condition.

APOV

Well damn!


	22. Alice's Version Of Things

**A/N: Enjoy! This chapter's a bit complicated, but everything will come clear soon enough.**

**Right everyone listen up. I've been getting les and less reviews. And that means people aren't enjoying my story as much. I want 20 reviews before next Saturday and if I don't get them then I will be abandoning CHIC! (College, Here I Come!)**

Disclaimer: SM owns Twi :(

Chapter 22: Alice's Version of Things

Well I was thinking about that talk Bella had with Rose and I yesterday; and I've decided that I'm not happy. Bella was putting everyone else first and doing so she was killing her _and _Edward.

So I've decided to interfere!

Ok, I know what you're thinking; whenever people interfere they just make things so much worse

But I have a foolproof plan!

Yeah, I know whenever people say that something goes wrong

But I have backup, in the form of my ever-faithful Rose. I was going to tell Rose every single detail of my master plan, so if there was anything that didn't make sense, she would spot it and fix it!

I pulled out my phone (which is my new hot pink, shiny, _limited edition_ iphone! Ok, my 10-year old squeal over!) And phoned Rose. I just prayed that she wasn't too _busy _with Emmett to pick up.

?POV

(A/N: The reason that this is ?POV is because you're not supposed to know who it is at the moment- but I bet that you can guess!)

That bitch Alice was on the phone to her friend. I think she said it was that blonde bimbo Rose. Just because her hair was _actually _blonde instead of died, she thought that she called all the shots, but I had a secret weapon!

Double E boobs, suck on that Rosalie Hale; in fact suck on that Edward Cullen-now that's much better.

I took a step forward, so that I could hear Alice's conversation. You never know, it could prove very interesting.

"Rose, I've had the best idea in the world"

"Yes, it is to do with Bella and Edward, and yes, it's fine to interfere. It's foolproof!"

"Trust me, Bella and Edward will be back together in no time. They just need to work things out"

So Alice had a 'foolproof' plan to get Bella and Edward back together? Well we couldn't have that, could we?

I thought that you'd never ask! Basically, Bella's condition was that Edward could not be invited to her leaving do, so that ruined my first plan, but now I'm going to set Edward up on a blind date at the same time in the same restaurant!"

Oh, could that stupid dwarf get any dumber? Edward was pissed enough as the amazing kiss we shared because Bella just happened to see; so if Bella saw Edward with another girl, it would be a total catastrophe for their relationship. Perfect! But it would all depend on whom Alice chose for Edward.

"Yes, I know that setting Edward up on a date in front of Bella would split them up for real."

"So what I'm going to do is have Edward's blind date stand him up!"

"That's it! I'm not going to try and set Edward up; I'm just going to tell him that I have."

"Yes, Rose, I know. I am a genius."

"So then Edward will be sitting all by himself and we'll see him, then I'll blackmail Bella into inviting Edward over to our table, where they'll have to talk to each other, and if they won't we can force them to."

So Alice was going to stand Edward up? Well that wasn't very nice was it! Maybe we could supply Edward with a date for the night, free of charge; we wouldn't want him sitting alone!

"So Rose, let's recap"

"I blackmail Edward into going on a blind date; Edward turns up, but his date doesn't. We see Edward sitting by himself and blackmail Bella into inviting him over, Bella and Edward talk, then we can see how things go from there."

That may be Alice's plan, but it sure as hell isn't like mine. I would just have to make a few amendments to Alice's plan.

Like replacing Alice's non-existent blind date with myself. So let's recap _my _plan.

I turn up at… wait a minute, where do I need to be, and what time do I need to be there?

Shit! If I don't know where to go or what time to turn up then I can't go through with my master plan!

I snuck closer to Gnome; maybe she would mention it to Blondie.

"Yeah, I'll see you later"

"Ok, see you then"

Damn, my plan would have been perfect!

Alice was just about to flip down her phone her shiny pink phone when she sighed and put it back to her ear.

"What now Rose?"

"Oh my god, you're right. The Sugared Plum"

So I know the restaurant, now I need to know the time. If the worst comes to the worst, I can just phone the restaurant and ask!

"I'll have Edward turn up at 7.00 and we're all turning up at 7.30. Edward's too much of a gentleman to risk standing someone up. He'll wait for about an hour, I think. But he's never been stood up by a girl before so I really don't know."

"Yes, that's the only risky part of my plan! Do you really think that I haven't spent hours thinking this through? I wouldn't have told you unless I thought that it was 100 percent necessary, but I think that I'll gain more from you knowing then the risk assessment of you letting something slip to Emmett in _the throws of passion_."

Alice had just played _right _into my hands, I know that I needed to turn up at 7.00pm at the Sugared Plum. But what day?

" I still can't believe that Bella's leaving tomorrow, I really didn't have enough time to plan this so we'll have to play some of it by ear."

"Yeah, I had to pull a lot of strings to get a booking tonight but it was the least that I could do, Bella's done so much for us."

_Tonight_. Now I was all set! All that was left was an outfit, something that would make Edward see how right _I _was for him and how wrong _Bella _was.

And if Alice was right about Bella leaving tomorrow, once she was out of the way, it wouldn't be long before Edward like succumbed completely to my superior charm.

RPOV

I know Bella is leaving, but I'm absolutely furious with her for breaking things off with Edward. She was breaking both their hearts' trying to help them.

I just hope that they don't do anything that they'll regret later.

As long as they're around later to regret it.

APOV

This was our last chance now; if I failed tonight I would give up. There's only so much that I can do beyond locking Edward and Bella in the same room until Edward knocked Bella up and felt obliged to marry her! If they carry on resisting fate then there's nothing left, I'll just have to hope that they'll see sense before it's too late.

They're tearing themselves apart, and I'm already in too deep. If they go down, they'll drag me with them.

They'll drag us all down with them.

Rose & Emmett

Jazz & Me

That's how much Bella has affected us in such a short amount of time. Without a Bella & Edward, we all had nothing left.

And I owe it to Jazz not to let that happen.

**What phone do you have?**


	23. Date From Hell

**A/N: Sorry that this has taken so long to write, I've beenw orking night and day at it, I was so impatient to update that I didn't even have time to send it to my beta (she's American and the time difference sucks!) **

**Let's just get something clear. I'm ENGLISH and CHIC (College, Here I Come) is set in America, but even though they're at Dartmouth, they're on the English Education System. Bella is 16 and she's at COLLEGE. They haven't gone to University yet (hint hint.) And yes, you can do this, there is a College at Dartmouth people, I did my research!!! **

**If you're looking for something to read, check out my new story called You Drive Me Crazy. I've recently posted the latest chapter, and it's got some amazing reviews, I'm really pleased with the way that it's turned out :P It's dedicated to Blackingcullen, who is the most amazing person ever! So go check it out!!!**

Chapter 23: Date From Hell

I'm currently waiting in the most expensive restaurant in town for a girl that, according to Alice, I've never met before. I'm extremely angry that Alice has betrayed Bella like this, Bella is my soul mate and she will never be replaced in my heart by someone else that Alice thinks is suitable!

There is no way that I'd be there in _any _other situation apart from this.

Alice threatened the one weakness that I have.

Alice threatened Bella!

If I didn't turn up tonight, Alice would replace Bella's entire wardrobe with designer labels _only_ and Bella could kiss her truck goodbye and wave hello to a matching 911 Turbo Porsche in disgusting lime green.

Even if she didn't want to be _my _Bella any more, she is still my love and always will be.

So I would _not _let my Bella be hurt like that.

So I was sitting here, waiting for the woman that Alice thinks is perfect for me, desperately hoping that the woman I love would not see me here, because that would just be the cherry on the top of the cake, wouldn't it!

I was sitting in one of the stiff backed chairs, occasionally checking my watch, when I saw Bella enter the room in a stunning white dress that reached down to her feet. A slit up the side gave me a hint of white creamy leg when she walked and a cream high heel perfect for someone who was very clumsy.

Was _Bella_ my blind date?

?POV

I pulled up outside the Sugared Plum; my date with Edward was going to be perfect!

I had found the perfect dress; Edward was going to love it. It was black and backless with a halter neck and a slit between my new boobs that showed my bellybutton. It also had a huge slit up the side that, when I walked, you could see the edge of lace on my black silk panties.

I was going to have Edward drooling!

Ad if he was a good boy, then maybe he can have a peek at my matching bra!

EPOV

I looked down, not wanting to be seen gawping at Bella, especially if she was willing to take me back after what I did to her.

I'm not entirely sure exactly what it was that I did to her, but to warrant this type of reaction, it must have been pretty bad! Hopefully together we could work through this though.

I heard Bella's delicate laugh ring across the room and I looked up, almost involuntarily. I then realised that I was glaring at the hoards of men now ogling her.

But that's not my job any more.

Looking at Bella, I clocked who was standing next to her, but I thought that my eyes were deceiving me.

_EMMETT?_

Then the rest of our friends filed in: Jazz, Rose, Alice. Alice?

Alice was the person who had organised this entire charade, and I would have bet my grand piano that she had a plan.

I looked up at Alice, and for a second she met my eyes. She winked at me dramatically; smirking at what I guessed was the look of hope in my eyes.

'Twin,' I mouthed at her. It was our little thing. When we were younger we always referred to each other as 'twin.' It was a show of trust a show that we loved each other, without actually having to say the words 'I love you.'

'Twin,' she mouthed back, and I relaxed in my seat. If Alice could tell me that at a time like this, then everything was going to be ok.

Looking down at the menu, I smiled in delight. They had my favourite fish: Rainbow Trout. Maybe tonight wasn't going to be so bad after all. The only thing that it would be missing is Bella.

I heard the waiter arrive, obviously escorting Alice's date. I had no idea what Alice was up to, but when I glanced up at her she was looking horrified and shaking her head frantically. She started beckoning furiously, but there was no way that I was going over there. Bella would probably think that I was stalking her or something.

I turned, getting out of my seat so tat I could greet my date for the evening properly. I started to introduce myself even before I had focussed on the girl standing in front of me.

"Hello, my name is Edward Cu…"

"Eddykins," Tanya cooed loudly, attracting stares from throughout the whole restaurant. Or they could have just been staring in shock at the ridiculous getup that she was wearing. It was like a parody of Bella's outfit, all black and twice as slutty. Everything that Bella's outfit had: taste, seduction, was portrayed in Tanya's outfit but twice as over the top. You could see her underwear through the slit in her dress and her breasts were so obviously plastic that it was comical. The look on her face was comical too, and the makeup that she was wearing didn't help; it just made her look even more like a clown. Was she doing this on purpose to try and make a fool out of me? Because that's the impression that I got from what she was wearing.

"Alice told me that you wanted a date for the night and I'm just so _honoured _that you picked me!"

I looked towards Alice's table; there must have been some mistake. I'm going to kill 'twin' as soon as I get the opportunity!

Alice was staring at Tanya with an expression of complete and utter horror on her face. There had obviously been a colossal mix-up and Alice wasn't in any position to come to my rescue; not at the same table has my first and only love!

Quickly scanning their table to see if anyone had noticed what ad just taken place right under their nose, I realised that Bella wasn't there.

But I didn't have time to worry about that now, instead I had to ditch Tanya. But how?

"Umm Tanya, I'll be right back"

I was hoping that she would simply allow me to walk out the restaurant and drive away, but no such luck! Tanya had me right where she wanted me and she wasn't going to let go that easily.

"But where are you going Eddie-poo?" she cooed yet again, following after me like a trained dog.

"Umm bathroom, Tanya"

"Ooh, I'll go with you, they have communal bathrooms here"

_Communal Bathrooms?_

Tanya escorted me through a door hidden behind a folding partition and I sighed in relief.

Thankfully the men and women had separate toilets.

There was a door on the left labelled men and a door on the right labelled women right labelled women.

"Here we are, Eddie-darling, I'll see you in a few" Tay looked pointedly at the door labelled 'men' and I had no choice but to walk through, I waited until I heard Tanya enter the other bathroom before exiting silently.

I pressed my head up against the tilled wall and felt like weeping in despair.

Alice had obviously had some master plan for Bella and I that Tanya had spoiled.

But wait a minute, what if Tanya was all _part _off Alice's plan! And I was about to ruin it by running away.

It didn't take long for me to make up my mind, I was going to stay. If there was even the slightest chance that Bella and I would get back together then I would endure anything that the banshee could throw at me.

O I turned around to face the door to the women's' toilets, awaiting the return of the banshee.

Slumping down against the ground, I kept my head down as I heard the door to the toilet's open smoothly.

"Edward?" said an all too familiar voice.

I looked up and melted under the gaze of two chocolate orbs. If I had been standing up, I would have collapsed.

Because I had forgotten.

When you stare into Bella's eyes, it feels like you can see right down to the bottom of her soul. And right now, all I could see reflected in her eyes was pure unsullied love.

"Edward, what are you doing here?"

But I ignored her, instead choosing to climb to my feet and walk towards her. I was about a foot away when I opened my arms to her.

She hesitated, and I thought for a moment that I was mistaken when she ran forward into my arms.

We embraced for about a minute, all the while murmuring 'I love you' continually into each other. Every time I heard her say those three insignificant words, my heart felt like it was about to explode with happiness. I love Bella so very very much!

"Edward I have something to te…"

But there was no way that I was going to let explanations come between Bella and me at a time like this, and so I gently pressed my lips against hers.

***

My lips were moving passionately against Bella's, both of us gasping for breath, but neither of us wanted to break this kiss. It was too perfect for words.

Bella and I had shared a lot of magical kisses in our time together, I mean we've done it so many times while we have been together and discovered so many things about ourselves and each other.

For instance I knew _exactly _what makes Bella scream the loudest and I can assure you that Bella likes it very very…

But my thoughts were interrupted, by Tanya emerging from the bathroom, she saw Bella and I together and he eyes narrowed as she looked between the two of us.

Then an evil smile lit up her face.

Tanya POV

It looks like Edward and Bella can overcome anything. I would become public enemy no. 1 again in Edward's eyes and this time Bella would sink her claws into Edward so deep that I would have no chance of freeing him.

They would end up having green eyed, bronze haired babies together, even I could see that!

And there was no way that I could let that happen. Edward Cullen was going to have children with me, not some bronze haired biatch. I was supposed to be the one that everyone cooed over and said how pretty I looked in my wedding dress; I was supposed to be the one who phoned up his family to tell them that we were going to have a baby; I was supposed to be the one that bought a people carrier and used it every day to drive the kids to school, then came home to a 4-story empty house while Edward was at work. I had everything planned out for the two of us, and there was no way I was going to let _Bella Swan_spoil all my dreams.

But then I smiled, because I had just had the greatest idea in the world.

Even if Edward wanted Bella back after this, there was no way that she would even consider taking him back after this.

All it would take is a _few white lies. _

BPOV

I had gone back on everything that I had promised myself. I had promised to break up with Edward; I had promised myself that no matter what Edward did, I would remember that I was doing this for his sake. But from the moment that my lips touched his once again, I was lost. Even if the love that I had seen reflected in his eyes was false, I would love him forever. And if he wanted me, there was no way that I would let him go. If Edward would let me, I would be his forever.

I was going to drag him into my mother's world, where she was God, Boss and Lord of everything else; because I was too selfish to live without him.

But first, I had to deal with Tanya, who had just emerged from the Ladies.

Or rather, Tanya had to deal with me. But there was nothing _she_ could say that would ever break Edward and I up.

Or was there?

EPOV

I watched Tanya march up to us, only stopping when she was about a foot away. She leaned forward until she was nose to nose with Bella. I clutched her closer, hoping to protect her from some of the Gorgon's wrath and turn it on to me.

But that was until Tanya burst into tears, and Bella stepped forward, out of my arms, to embrace the she-devil.

This could not be happening.

Wordlessly, Tanya reached out and slapped my face. She would have done it again, but Bella grabbed her hands and pinned them to the side of her body.

Bella's comforting arms had turned into restraints, and as Tanya was several inches taller, it was Bella that I was worried for.

And then Tanya ruined my life completely, sealing her fate and mine. I could have forgiven her for everything that she had done in time, and maybe we could have been friends; I could have fixed things with Bella, in fact things were already pretty much back to normal. Well at that moment, I didn't think that there was anything particularly bad going on. However, I couldn't have been much more wrong.

"Edward Cullen, I knew that you were a player but I didn't realise that you'd sunk this low. I mean, we just had hot sweaty, passionate sex in the bathroom and I find you making out with another girl 5 minutes later. That's just wrong."

The arms that had been holding Tanya back fell to their owner's side, leaving her free to stalk forward until she was almost pressed up against me.

"Was it a lie when you told me that you only loved me and that I was your first as well?" said Tanya in a loud vice, she was making sure that Bella heard.

Then, upon hearing Bella's strangled sob, she ran her nail down my chest and whispered in my ear:

"Call me when you're ready to have some fun"

Then Tanya stalked out of the bathroom leaving me alone with Bella.

She looked up at me, and I swear to God I will never forget the look upon her face for the rest of my life. _The agony _in her expression was unbearable. I swore, right then and there, that I would never be the cause of her looking like that ever again.

"Bella, I can explain"

But Bella ignored me, following in Tanya's footsteps and leaving me completely alone"

I followed after her at a run

"Bella, wait!"

* * *

Who's your 'twin?'


	24. Our Final Goodbyes'

A/N: Sorry that this has taken so long, I've been really ill recently, so I would appreciate any support that you could give me with this!

**Check out my new story You Drive Me Crazy if you're looking for something to read. It's a little different from what I've done before and I've received so much enthusiasm about it at home, so I can't wait to hear what you guys think!**

Chapter 24: Our Final Goodbyes'

EPOV

I came flying out of the restaurant after Bella, but she was moving too fast and her lead was too great. I was praying that she would stumble, as she was so often prone to, and it seemed for a moment that I would get lucky, when I went flying through the air in a manner resembling on of Bella's spectacular falls.

I looked back to see what I had tripped over and saw my friends standing there, Jazz's foot sticking out a little to far to be an accident. Emmett came up to me and wrapped his arms around me. To the casual bystander it must have seemed like an innocent, brotherly hug. I knew better though, it was a restraint, a way to keep me under control.

To stop me from escaping and perusing the woman that I loved.

Right now, it felt like my family was standing in the way of my happiness.

So when I was manhandled into Alice's Porsche, while Rose drove my Volvo with the keys that she had pick pocketed from me, I was very pissed indeed.

I got in through the front door and held it open for the others. Once they were all in, I slammed the door and flicked the latch shut.

No one was getting out until I fully understood what was going on.

It took one word to break the overwhelming silence that had filled the room, with four different voices talking over each other in their eagerness to make me understand.

"Explain"

But the only explanation I needed in the end was two words: Bella's leaving.

***

It was 7.30 in the morning, and everyone was asleep but me. Bella's flight was leaving at 9.00am and I was going to be there to say goodbye. It would take me 15 minutes to get to the airport, so I was leaving an hour and a half to talk to her, minus the boarding time.

I just hoped it was long enough to make her see sense.

Climbing in to my Volvo, I turned the keys in the ignition, nothing.

Must have stalled it.

I turned the keys again, but the engine just wouldn't start. I began to panic, and pressed the button to open the bonnet of the car. I looked at the engine, and noticed a big hole where somebody had removed what looked to be a vital part.

I took the stairs back to the apartment three at a time, and I was in and out in under 30 seconds. I was right, Rose and Alice had left last night so that Bella wouldn't feel that they had abandoned her for me.

7.50, I set off running to their apartment complex. It was a 10 minutes run, but my time was ticking away now.

8.00, I reached their block and legged it up the stairs. Pounding on the door, I began to scream blue murder in the hopes that someone would hear me. A very sleepy Alice can to the door five minutes later.

"Edward? What the hell are you doing here?"

"No time to explain. Give me your car keys."

Wordlessly Alice handed them over.

8.07, I was in the canary yellow Porsche, on my way.

The car drove like a dream, but I wasn't concentrating on that at the moment. In my mind's eye, all I could see was the expression of agony on Bella's face when Tanya lied to her.

8.25, there was traffic on the roads.

I was five minutes away and the line wasn't getting any smaller. I wasn't going to make it. Her last memory of me would be as a dirty, cheating man-whore. There must be something that I could do to save her. She just couldn't be apart from me for that long. Maybe I could have Carlisle register as her legal guardian; he was a Doctor for Christ's sake! That's about as respectable as it gets!

8.35, I had illegally parked the car, and was running towards the entrance.

I bypassed the Boarding gates, Bella's luggage would be on the plane by now, and I was just hoping that Bella wasn't. It would be beyond cruel for me to finally find out what was happening, but be foiled at this last hurdle. I had to see Bella, just one last time. No secrets, no barriers between us.

I don't know how I managed to bypass the security guards, but I think that sheer desperation gave me strength. Luck was clearly on my side, she knew that I was nothing without Bella.

I heard her voice before I saw her; it carried across the terminal like the sound of Church Bells announcing someone's death. She was close to tears, and it killed me to hear her like this.

She was talking to Alice on the phone; my God I loved my sister sometimes. She had an uncanny knack of predicting the future, and I couldn't have needed it more at this very moment. Without that phone call, I would never have heard Bella's voice in the busy terminal.

"_Alice, I've waited long enough. He's not going to show."_

Even the words she was uttering couldn't distract me from my frantic search for her. I was pushing people aside, shoving couples apart, all in my desperate fever to find her.

"_Yeah I'm going to miss him so much, I feel like I'm being torn in two."_

I felt like I was being torn in two as well. All this time, Bella had been hurting just as much as me. The willpower that it must have taken her to go through with this, all for my own good, or what she considered to be my own good.

"_I want to stay so so much."_

I want her to stay so so much too, but it looks like that's not an option for me. I would have to settle for seeing Bella one last time, and making sure that she knows I _will _wait for her, and that the only way that I would ever leave her is if _she_ grew bored of _me_.

"_Yes Alice, I know that he would wait for me, but I can't ask something like that of him."_

Oh yes you can Bella, and I am hoping beyond hope that you will. But I Just Have To Find You!

_I love him too much to ask him to sacrifice two years of his life. _

And that was when I saw her.

The last time I had seen her, I would have called her beautiful. The way she looked now made that previous version of Bella look like a witch. Beauty had changed her, from a girl on the brink of womanhood to a woman on the cusp of life. I had never seen a woman so perfect in my entire life, and I had a chance to be with her.

In three short strides I was gazing into those chocolate orbs. So changed with sadness, and yet still the same. I could still loose myself in them; she could still make me forget my own name.

The people scurrying around us, jostling and pushing in the eagerness faded into the background.

All that mattered was Her and I.

Bella and Edward.

Two people with an amazing connection that were being denied the life they needed. A life with each other.

Because life without each other was not worth living.

Slowly, so slowly it felt like a hundred years, our lips met. It had none of the urgency of yesterday, but all of the passion. All of the fire, but none of the burn. It wasn't the urgent greeting of secret lovers, but the slow sensual departure of two people, resigned to their fate.

In that moment, we became one. Inexplicably linked, I could even feel our hearts, beating in sync in our breasts.

That single second was all it took for me to realize that, no matter what, we would be together forever. No one could keep us apart.

We would be together forever.

"Bella, I want to one else but you, and that will continue for as long as I live. I could wait for forever and a day for you, if that was how long it would have to be before we were together again. Compared to that, two years is nothing. Nothing Bella!"

The final boarding call for Bella's flight went off. In a moment they would be calling her by name.

It was time for our goodbyes' but these would not be our final ones. We would be united once more, I could feel it, and I knew it somewhere deep deep down in my heart.

Bella looked me in the eye.

"Edward, will you promise me something"

"Anything for you, my love"

"Forget me"

And with that, my only love walked through the boarding gate without looking back.


	25. My Homecoming

**A/N: People, you do not know how sorry I am for leaving it this long between updates. I feel absolutely awful. I'm never going to let this happen again, and to try and show everyone how sorry I am, in future, I will not be waiting at all between updates, as soon as the latest chapter is up, it will be posted. Now, I think you need a reminder of what happened in College, Here I Come! because I know I did :P**

_**Heyyy :) you probably don't know me, HOWEVER, you WILL! I am ihatejacob1, Izzy's beta. And I will work my hardest to make this story even more awesome than it already is (which is near impossible) :D**_

**Previously:**

**Edward and Bella meet at Dartmouth after going to Forks High School together. After a bumpy start they hit it off, and sleep together soon after. Edward and Bella are both virgins, even though Edward has always been looked upon as something of a player. Alice and Jasper and Rose and Emmett join them at Dartmouth, and for two months things look amazing for the 3 couples. That is until Bella's dad Charlie passes away. Eventually, after much heartbreak, Bella recovers from her loss, only to receive a phone call from her mother ordering her home to Phoenix. Her reasoning over this is that Bella is only 16, and she needs a legal guardian. Bella doesn't know how to tell Edward that she's moving, but she knows that Edward would wait for her no matter what. So instead she breaks off the relationship using the ruse that she needs a commitment, so Edward proposes. Bella simply walks away. Tanya Denali, a fellow pupil at Dartmouth hears on the 'grapevine' that Edward is now single and kisses him in the middle of the cafeteria. Bella sees and thinks Edward is over her already. They stop talking, and Bella tells the others what's happened, and how she has to move away, she then makes them swear that they will not tell Edward. Alice, mindful of the promise that she's made, decides to set Edward up on a blind date, but have the girl stand him up. She would then organize a goodbye party for Bella in the same restaurant. Unfortunately, Tanya overhears Alice explaining the plan to Rosalie and decides to become Edward's blind date. On their date, Edward and Bella run into each other outside the toilets, and they kiss. Tanya walks up to them and says 'Edward, we just had hot passionate sex in the bathroom stall, and you're cheating on me already? Was it a lie when you told me that you only loved me and that I was your first?' Bella storms out of the restaurant. Later that night, Alice explains to Edward that Bella has to go home, and tells him that she's still in love with him completely. The next day, Bella is leaving for Phoenix, but just before they get on the plane, Edward shows up. He tells Bella that he would never love another and she is the only woman for him, he says that one day he wants to marry her, even if he has to wait an entire lifetime. Bella tells Edward to 'forget her' and gets on the plane without looking back.**

**Sorry that that was so crap, I'm really not good at summaries, please just go read my story if you can't remember, I promise you'll love it, and it's been so long it would basically be reading something new :P**

**So here goes: College, Here I Come might be over, but Home, Here I Come has only just begun…

* * *

**

Chapter 1: My homecoming

I turned on my heel and trekked determidly away from Edward, keeping my eyes fixated forward. I knew that the first glance into those eyes would make me break. From the glance that I got as I turned, it looked like his heart was breaking, like he was dying; and so was I.

I'd had my reasons for doing this, but faced with the consequences of my actions, the decision's brilliant light, seemed to dull. So instead of turning back, like my heart so desperately wanted to, I let my head take over, and repeating the four words that had become my mantra these past couple of months. Logic won over the heart, it absolutely _had_ to. The heart made no sense; it was dangerous territory, but the brain, now that had reason. I began the monotonous boarding of the flight, sensing his eyes boring into my back, praying for him to just walk away.

_For Edward, for Mom_…

Repeating this over and over, those words became my shield, numbing my heart, protecting the sadness and despair from sinking in too deep. I was drowning in a pool of my own creation, and the more I struggled, the deeper I sunk. My heart was tearing, in a physically painful way. I felt as if I would hunch over in horrible gut wrenching pain.

I would have plenty of time to wallow later, and there would be no Alice, or no Rosie, to help me out of it this time. I was alone.

I was doing this for Edward because long-distance relationships were hard (this I knew), and two years of enforced celibacy were sure be torture for him. My other reason tied in with my mother, I could not enforce her on him. I could not drag Edward into my twisted messed up relationship with her. It just wasn't fair.

But my mother was a whole world apart. For years now she had been my everything, and then she flat-out left me for Phil. Even if she did throw me to the sharks over in Forks, I still owed her for all those years of love. Now, when she needed me again, to be a buffer against the real world, she ripped me out of my life and snatched me back into hers. She seemed to gaining a particular pattern of having me around when it was convenient for her.

Not only that, but she needed to be able to show me off, to lord me above all her 'friends.' These people only tolerated her because Phil is a major league baseball player, and she was his trophy wife. She needed to be able to say 'look at my daughter, she's clever, pretty and successful. What does your daughter do these days? Oh yeah, she's married to the Earl/Lord/Knight of wherever, with 17 kids, and another one on its way.' Ah how dear mom was.

So you can imagine, it was with a heavy heart that I boarded this plane, and I looked forward to my future of entertaining spoiled brats and persuading mother that it is NOT a good idea to host a surprise birthday party for Lord whatever of wherever because the surprise might just kill him. Yeah, he's that old.

An over-nice flight attendant glided past me, but by then I already had my earphones securely implanted in my ears, my arms folded and a scowl placed prominently on my face. I might as well have had a big sign saying 'WARNING: I bite.'

I closed my eyes and almost immediately I found myself replaying Edward and my final farewells. I knew that the memories would haunt me until they took centre stage, so I closed my eyes and let it wash over me. I wasn't quite sure where the memories morphed into imagination, but the next thing I knew, I was asleep.

***

I woke to sunlight glaring through the open shutter on the airplane window. I quickly slammed it shut, only to receive fowl-tempered glares from my fellow passengers.

The flight stewardess then proceeded to give out instructions for landing I ignored these, in the hopes that it would all just go away, until an extremely put-up looking woman informed me that under no circumstances were iPods allowed on planes and would I be so kind as to return my seat and tray to their original positions. Also, if I could be so kind as to stop kicking the seat in front, it would be much appreciated.

After meekly obeying the matronly flight attendant, I departed the plane to a chorus of thank you for flying with American Airways, we hope to see you again in the future; I soon came face to face with the woman I had been dreading seeing after so many years, and burst into tears.

This was not my mother; this is the 'new and improved version.' Her pretty auburn hair that had once flowed gently down her back was now cut into a short, sharp bob. I appraised her figure, and to my horror, I realized that she's had _another_ boob job, and what looked like several rounds of liposuction. Focusing again on her face, I could clearly see the results of Botox and what could have possibly been a nose job. Her outfit was completely different then before too, instead of her usual long skirt and frilly blouse, she was wearing a pencil skirt that stopped way to far above her knees, and a business suit buttoned up over her now ample cleavage.

Suddenly through the tears, I burst into horrified giggles. My mother's size 11 feet had been crammed into vivid pink high-heels, on which she was now tottering along.

"So what do you think, Isabella?" She had obviously noticed my appraisal of her new body; her eyes were excited and expectant. I settled for a mumbled, "You look different", thinking that I wasn't technically lying to her, and that was the version of the truth least likely to piss her off.

She did a quick spin for me, almost falling over in the process. I wanted to groan.

"Oh just a few nips and tucks here and there, now do come along, we can't stand here yapping all day!" She happily gripped my hand, with shiny and polished nails.

As I followed dutifully behind my mother, she started blathering on, obviously assuming that I was listening, when in reality, my mind was miles and miles away with Edward.

"Isabella, concentrate! Now as I was saying, you will address me as 'mother' at all times, none of this 'mom' business. Mom is for poor people, and we most certainly are not poor. I am not impressed with your outfit that will need to be rectified immediately. I can't let you out into society wearing_converses_. We will make a trip to the stores to get you some more appropriate clothing as soon as possible. Until then, you can wear some of my things. They may be a little small though, you seem to have gained a little weight recently; we shall have to think about putting you on a diet…" She blabbed on and on, her high pitched voice becoming static in the background.

I sighed inwardly; I was at least three sizes smaller then my mother.

"Oh and your breasts, they're like little tee-pees. Well at least that's easy to rectify. I'll phone the doctor today. What do you think about getting your hair cut as well? Bob's are all the rage in Paris," (she said Paris with the most ridiculous French accent) "at the moment, and your hair looks so long and straggly now.'

"No _mother_ you can change what I wear, but you will not be changing any aspects of my genetic makeup. Nor will I go on a diet. And as for cutting my hair, you will have to do that over my dead body. So you can get all thoughts of boob jobs and liposuction out of your head immediately." I was surprised with my own rebellion.

My mother's hands can up to her face and she became frantic, flapping at her face. "This is an outrage, how dare you speak to me like that! I am your mother and I deserve to be treated with respect."

"I am your daughter; you should respect me for who I am flaws and all!" I exclaimed.

My mother gasped and the car came to a sudden halt. I looked out the window at the huge manor house that was now my 'home.' A single solitary tear rolled down my face.

Mother came round to open the door for me, and noticed my wet cheek.

"Oh honey," she bent awkwardly to hug me from my sitting-down position. "I knew that you were glad to be home really!"

Slightly confused, I answered my mom with a short, sharp. "What?" The tears trickled down my cheeks, I missed mom. So dearly. Where was she? Who was this…_playboy bunny_?

"Your tears, tears of happiness. I can tell. I mean you know what they say, home is where the heard is!'

"Edward is where my heart is and always will be." I declared, feeling myself fall into the stereotype of an angsty, whiny teenager.

My mom's facial expression changed instantly, a cold hard mask forming in its place

She dropped any trace of fake accent, and said, in a voice too menacing to have come from my own mother. "Stop being so melodramatic and get out the damn car, Isabella."

I shouldn't have come here, I realized that now. This was a stranger, who could snap at any moment. My mother didn't need me as a buffer from the real world, like I had thought for so many years; the real world needed _me_ as buffer from _her.

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_

**A/N: Review?**

…_**Or you die.**_


	26. Missing You

**A/N: Well I'm trying to update faster :S. What does everyone think? Thanks for having so much patience with me, you guys are amazing, I love you all so much! **

_**IhateJacob1: I love you too Izzy XD lol sure you weren't referring to me but WHATEVER. Anywho, enjoy the chapter.**_

**Well, hey there peepz! Jalice here! Yeah, I am her beta and IhateJacob1's co-beta. So, yeah. Enjoy the chappy and let us know what you think. :)**

**Chapter 26: Missing You**

I laid on my bed, in my new room and thought of my dreadful day. Today had been my first day at a new school that I was joining halfway through a term. It reminded me of my first day at Forks High, but in this school I was a subject of derision rather than entertainment. However, I turned my thoughts away from my awful school and towards some of the rumours that had already sprung up about me. It was like; gossiping was a _course_ this school offered.

"I heard that her mother has been married 6 times." One person had whispered.

"Well I heard she was pregnant and moved here to have an abortion." The other giggled back.

"_I_ heard that she was secretly married and she moved out here because her husband was mistreating her." I snorted out loud at that one.

It was in my first period that I became victim to complete humiliation. I could feel my cheeks heating up just thinking about it.

I entered the elaborately decorated classroom, to find plenty of students milling about, but no teacher. I awkwardly stood to cone side, unsure of what to do or where to sit. A baby-faced blue-eyed adolescent with acne and a camera approached me. It was like Mike, Tyler and Eric, three boys from my past, all rolled into one.

"Hey b…babe, how… how's it h…h…hanging?" He stuttered.

This was obviously the social reject of the school, looking to befriend someone that he assumed was just as pathetic as he was. I decided that he wasn't worth answering; I merely narrowed my eyes at him until he fled, almost knocking over a desk in his haste to escape. Job done, I was about to relax when three more kids approached; two guys and a girl.

The girl was redheaded and quite pretty. Not quite Rosie pretty, but then again, who was? She was the spokesman for the group, and took the liberty of introducing the three of them to me.

"Hi, it's great to meet you, I'm Victoria, and this is James and Laurent," she said, first gesturing to her right, and then to her left. I nodded meekly in the general direction of these rather intimidating new people.

I offered her my hand saying "Nice to meet you too, I'm Bella," but ignoring my offered hand, she leaned in and wrapped me in a firm hug. This was so reminiscent of my first meeting with Alice that I began to wonder whether I would be able to make friends here, and maybe even find a tiny shred of my previous happiness.

I shouldn't have got my hopes up.

James flung an arm over my shoulder. I silently appraised the two guys; noticing that they were both quite handsome in their own way. James had blonde, long hair that he tied back at the nape of his neck and piercing blue eyes. Laurent was dark, with black dreadlocks and eyes so dark that they were almost black. The three of them escorted me through the masses of teenagers to four desks that were strangely untouched. If I'd looked around, I'd have noticed that the giggling from all sides was more malicious then curious, but I kept my head down and my eyes averted.

The teacher never turned up for that lesson, I asked Victoria about it but she just brushed it off, returning instead to questioning me. Throughout the hour long period, she questioned me on my life before here. At first, I was guarded in my answers, but I desperately needed someone to confide in. Edward's family had been my only real friends, and I couldn't exactly phone one of them up and tell them all the whys and wherefores of why I left their brother. Their loyalty to him was much stronger than their loyalty to me I was sure. So in bits and pieces, I told Victoria the entire story; she seemed like a nice enough people, and maybe she would understand what I was going though. All I needed was one person, one person to hold me and tell me that I'd done the right thing, I knew that that would make all the difference.

When the lesson ended, I had begun to regret telling Victoria. I got the feeling that she had ulterior motives. As I'd explained what happened, the three of them had expressed all the right emotions in all the right places, but they just seemed too passive, and their emotions seemed to practiced to be real. I vowed to be more on my guard with them, especially Victoria.

I almost got the impression that they'd done this before.

But I ignored my gut instinct, instead taking Victoria up when she offered to show me to my next lesson. Telling me it was in an obscure part of the school, I trotted after her and James, who were walking together, arms wrapped around each other. I glanced towards Laurent and noticed him looking longingly at the happy couple.

"Do you like Victoria or something?"

Laurent looked at me sharply, and in that glance, I saw everything that I needed to know.

"No," I mused, The reason you look at her…then like that is because your jealous of the relationship they have.'

"That's not true!" he whisper shouted.

"Don't bother denying it; I can see it in your eyes. I had that once, but I gave it up. He was everything that I'll ever want. But don't worry, it'll be your turn soon enough. You seem like a sweet handsome, kind guy." I looked up at him, questioning my new 'it's too late for me, but you still have a chance' act. It felt like giving up.

I was about to continue when he interrupted me, smiling maliciously. "You're wrong." And with that he pushed me into a closet that Victoria was so kindly holding open for him. I had been so caught up in talking to him that I hadn't noticed the deserted corridors.

The door slammed behind me, and the key turned in the lock. I sighed; I should have known right from the start that this school was going to be hell.

It had taken me 27 minutes to pick the lock and find my next classroom. Upon entry, the teacher had waved aside my mumbled apologies, checked her watch and said 'under half-an-hour? Well I guess I owe you $30, Miss Busborg. Ah well, you win some, you lose some."

I was extremely confused, until the girl next to me explained that James and Victoria always befriended the new girls and locked them in some form of cupboard or enclosed space. The entire school then took bets on how long it would take her to get out of there. Apparently the shortest time was 17 minutes, when someone had simply kicked the door to the cupboard down. The longest however, was two days. The girl had fainted from lack of food and water, and had had to be taken to hospital. I would have liked my neighbour for explaining this all to me, but then she went on to ask whether it was true that I had been rescued from a brothel by a man who was now paying for my education in return for sexual favours. After that I pretty much ignored her.

I lay back on my pillow, today had been horrendous, tomorrow would be just as bad, and sleep deprivation would simply make it unbearable.

My last thought, because I succumbed to the escape of sleep, was "Edward, if only you could see me now."

**Review, it means the world to me : )**


	27. Where's Jake When You Need Him?

**At the moment, I've been dragged away from my home and taken on holiday forcibly. It's really cold up here, and I have the worst headache as well. So count this chapter as an added bonus, whether you like it or not. This chapter is completely dedicated to Jemster23 for having THE sweetest stories on ff ever. Check them out!**

_**Ihatejacob1**_** here so Halloween has come and gone, and I hope you guys enjoy the chapter :) Izzy has the worst temper :P**

**JaliceCullen: Well she's decided not to comment this week, so I've decided to make up her comment for her (this is rizzyg2 by the way) Hi, I'm Jalice, I'm an awesome writer, and I have lots of amazing stories, go check them out!**

Chapter 3: Where's Jake When You Need Him?

_September_: I missed it completely; unfortunately I didn't miss the Algebra test. 65% and I'm flunking already.

_October_: October? What October! 72%- great, just great. I got a week's worth of detentions.

_November_: I bought Christmas presents for everyone, Alice, Jazz, Emmett, Rosie. And… _him_. I couldn't help it, it felt wrong not to get one for all of them. I was planning to post them, but I realized that they would probably have forgotten about me by now, they've probably all moved on. I got 87% on the test this time; I don't have anything better to do than revise now.

_December: _I 'forgot' to get Renee a Christmas present. Phil covered for me though; he's not actually that bad. 96%- wow, I really have nothing left any more.

Today is Boxing Day I think; I can hear Renee shouting me from downstairs. Lunch- cold, leftover turkey. Fantastic. Just what I need to heighten my spirits, cold turkey scraps; I haven't heard from anyone over Christmas, of course no one knows my new mobile number if they could be bothered to phone in the first place.

I realized it last month, at the airport; I dropped my phone on the floor. Everyone's number, gone, so even if I had wanted to phone them, I couldn't have. It was the last straw, my final link with my old life, gone. All gone. Jake was the only one with Renee's number, but I hadn't heard from him either. I had desperately hoped to hear from him, my only life-line. But, of course, it wasn't meant to be.

Renee was yelling now, I could hear the anger rising in her voice. It was awful; I would sometimes drift off into space, only to be jolted back by my mother, angrily screeching in my ear. I trudged downstairs fixing a smile on my face, I was positive it looked fake despite my efforts. Phil looked at me strangely, but Renee didn't notice a thing. She smiled at me, teeth clearly newly whitened.

"So Isabella, what do you think of your new phone? I was very disappointed to hear that you left your previous one at the airport, it wasn't cheap you know." I should expected her to mention something like that; it was somewhat humorous to me. The fact that she worries about the money I run up when she throws away the freaking _National Treasure_ to improve her looks.

Renee had conveniently managed to forget that firstly, I paid for my phone myself, and it was a $20 phone anyway. My new phone was currently lying in its box in my room. I hadn't even bothered to look at it yet. It was doubtless that Phil had chosen it, so maybe it wouldn't be too bad.

While I had been musing, the conversation had moved on. Phil was nodding eagerly, while Renee jabbered on about some sewing thing. I think it was a new class that they wanted to join. Phil was a sucker to Renee's plans; he would willingly go along with anything that she suggested. It was strange to see a full-grown man laid out so helplessly in front of my mother, and she was lapping it up like a cat that got the cream. She loved the attention, and the money that came with it. I still wasn't sure what Phil's job was, but whatever it was, it paid bloody well. My mother was living like an absolute Queen, while I felt like a prisoner.

After eating, I retreated to my bedroom. I ignored the pasty pink color of the walls, and the gaudy decorations, instead deciding to turn on my phone. It wasn't that bad now I really looked at it; although it was ridiculously overpriced. Phil knocked on the door and asked for the number of my new phone, I gladly gave it to him without asking why he needed it. I didn't blame him for the state I was now in, he wasn't the one who forced me to move here after all.

Then the mobile began to ring. It made me jump out of my skin, no one but Phil had this number, and I'd only just given it to him. He must be testing out the number to make sure that it was working. That seemed to be the only plausible explanation anyway.

Pressing the accept, I answered the insistent ringing with a cautious "Phil?"

"Bella, is that you?" A deep, husky voice that didn't resemble Phil's….no. It couldn't be…

"Jake?" I asked, a whole octave higher; thinking this could be a sick mistake. Please let me not be dreaming…

"Yeah, it's me Bells. Long time no see," he said happily, I gasped and giggled to myself. It _was_ him!

"How did you get this number?" I asked curiously, but still excitedly.

"I phoned up Phil and Renee and asked for your mobile number. Simple as that. They sure didn't mind giving it to me." I ignored that last comment.

So that was why Phil had asked for my mobile number, Jake had wanted it. There was an awkward silence between us, it had been so long since we had spoken that the easy friendship between us had been lost. The connection we shared could not be expressed over the phone.

"So… how are you? I heard you moved back to Phoenix. Sunshine treating you well?" The attempt at small talk was sad, truly.

"Yeah, I'm good thanks Jake. What about you?" I asked softly, hoping to hear some good news.

"I'm fine, thinking about opening up a garage actually." He spoke proudly; I smiled at the visualization of his face when he told me this.

"Awesome, good luck with that." I chuckled.

Stilted, awkward conversation continued. He enquired about school, I asked about Billy. Neither of us really shared any details, and he hung up five minutes later with the excuse that he needed to pop down to the shops. That was a load of shit, but who could blame him? I wasn't exactly scintillating conversation. Jake did used to be my best friend though; you'd think that he could at least make an effort. Surely _he _would be able to see through my carefully constructed façade, but apparently I could fool even him now. Jake had simply acted like nothing was wrong.

Everything _was_ wrong though.

I began to get angry. It had been over four months. How dare he just phone up and pretend that nothing had happened between us. He has had my number for months, if our situations were reversed, I know that I would have made every effort to stay in contact with him. If it had taken me phoning every day, that's what I would have done. Not a pathetic, once in every four months. The lengths that I'd gone to in the past for him, and he couldn't be bothered to phone me!

To think, my best friend, the one constant in my life up until before I met _him _had left me, I was completely alone. I began to shiver at the realization.

What do I have in this life to call my own? Who could I turn to? Not Renee, that's for sure. Phil already has enough to cope with in the form of my mother. Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosie, all gone. My so-called friends, all gone.

I have nothing left, not a single person in this world to call my friend. Not one person in this entire world to miss me. They probably wouldn't even notice if I disappeared.

I could disappear today, pack my bag and make a new life for myself. I could leave this city, and travel somewhere new. Somewhere where no one knows my name, where no one will judge me by my mother, or by my age. I need a change of scenery.

Blindly, my vision blurred by red-hot tears, I grabbed my school rucksack and emptied the contents on the floor. Books scattered everywhere, arbitrary grades flying all over the room. I pulled open my wardrobe drawer and started grabbing random clothes. My toothbrush and toothpaste went in the bag too. Everything that I would need for a road journey. I could go 100 miles away from here and it still wouldn't be far enough. I had my college fund, now that Phil was paying for my education; it was just sitting there. That would be enough until I could get another job; I could waitress in a diner somewhere. Not the type of life I had in mind, but better then wasting away here.

I scurried to my jewelry box, taking out various gold and silver items, in case I needed to pawn them off somewhere for cash; I brought a flashlight with two new batteries just in case I needed them. Clean socks, my phone and charger (I would change my number soon after my departure) and my battered copy of Wuthering Heights.

My rucksack packed, I headed out the door.

"I'm going to see some friends, I'll be back in a couple of hours," I called to the house in a monotone, hoping to sound normal.

"Honey, you don't have any friends." _What don't I know?_ "Phil's gone out to get a movie; we're going to have a family night in. He's taken your truck, his Porsche is almost out of gas and he didn't want to have to fill it up at the moment. What are you doing with that big rucksack?" Mother asked suspiciously; I internally groaned and wracked my brain for a good lie.

It was pathetic, my entire plan ruined by the childish whims of one woman, there was no point going without my truck, and Renee would never let me leave the house, not when she wanted to play house.

Time to move on to Plan B

"Okay, I'll be down in a couple of minutes, call me when Phil gets back. What are we watching?" I asked sugar sweetly, feeling the burn of defeat under my skin.

Not giving her time to reply, I made a detour to the kitchen to grab what I needed and then I headed up to my room. Chucking my bag in the corner, I grabbed two pieces of paper and a pen and sat down at my desk. I grabbed the first piece of paper, and furiously began to write…

_Renee, Edward is where my heart is and nothing can fill that gap. I can't live without him, and you won't let me live with him; so I won't live at all._

As an afterthought I added:

_Don't blame yourself, it isn't your fault._

Then, I took the second piece of paper, and thought about what my last words to my only love should be. I could only hope that my mother would abide by my wishes, and forward it to him.

_Edward, I will always love you._

That was all I had after twenty minutes of thinking. Phil still wasn't back and Renee was busily cooking downstairs. In this, I think I expressed everything that needed to be said. Everything that I wanted to tell him was there.

Well not quite everything.

_I'm so sorry._

Now it was perfect.

I added a note at the bottom asking Renee to send this to him, including the address that it needed to be sent to. I asked her to abide by my last wishes, and I only hoped that she would understand how important this was to me. I looked over the two notes again and smiled.

It was the first time in four months that I had been able to think of Edward's name without breaking in half. I lost myself in memories of him; of his smile, of his laugh, of the way he would whisper in my ear that he loved me after we had… Everything about him was perfect, he was the man that I could have had my happily ever after with.

But no more.

I picked up the knife that I had collected from the kitchen, and looked at the gleaming blade. I would need to exert a lot of pressure on my skin, and the smell of blood would make me woozy. I would only have one chance at this, so I would need to make sure it worked. I marked where I would need to cut in black biro, just so there would be no mistakes.

I wouldn't make the mistake that countless others had made before me, I would make the slit along the vein rather then across my wrist, I would need to let as much blood out as possible.

I would be in a lot of pain, but then this would all be over. Any amount of pain is worth an escape from this eternal hell. Maybe, if I didn't go to hell, I would see Edward again. Or maybe death is just the end.

I had never been a very religious person, but having death stare me in the face now made me wish that I had prayed a little more, or visited Church once or twice.

I really hope that this isn't just the end, because if I knew one way or the other, then I'm not sure that I'd have the courage to make the cut. You're never too young to die, but 16 does seem a little early. There was so much that I would have liked to do before now, unfortunately I would never get the opportunity.

The catalyst for this was my father's death, and it would end too, in my death. The beginning and the end, taking place before my very eyes. I caressed the knife, running my finger up and down the serrated edge, admiring the finesse of the tool that I would use to end the pitiful thing I liked to call life.

I lifted the blade, carefully considering the best place to perform the cut. The bathtub was out of the question; I wanted to make as big a mess as possible. Blood stains weren't the easiest thing to get out of plush carpet, I was going to go out with as much of a bang as possible, I would not allow memories of me to be washed down the plughole like dirty water.

So that left me with the bed or the desk. The bed would be more elegant, but the desk messier. It would also draw attention to my notes.

The desk it was.

I placed the knife directly on top of the notes, and sat down in my nice revolving chair. It would be a shame to ruin it, but I had no other alternative. I looked down at my clothes, Renee picked them out, so as you can imagine, they weren't to my taste at all. I wouldn't care when they were spoiled.

Knowing Renee, she would try to dress me up like a stuffed turkey for my funeral. I laid out on the bed my only nice set of clothes, salvaged from the bin when Renee wasn't looking. I left instructions that I wanted an open-coffin funeral, like Charlie had, and I was to be dressed in the clothes on my bed. I wasn't too fussed about my funeral, but I didn't want it to be some over-the-top gaudy party for my mother. That would just be the cherry on the tip of the cake.

Even in my death, she would somehow manage to direct the attention on to her.

I was ready, everything was perfect, and I was at peace with myself. I had made my decision, and I was going to stick to it. Making the decision was the hard part for me, once I had made it; going through with it was easy. I was hoping that the same applied to this.

I lifted the knife, lining it up carefully with the black marker on my left wrist. I had a feeling that I wouldn't have time to make the second slit, the smell of blood would have knocked me out by then.

I had just got up the courage to do it, when my phone erupted in an insistent buzzing. I was furious! I couldn't concentrate when my phone was vibrating! This would all be ruined if I was resuscitated and survived, I needed silence!

Storming over to my phone, I flipped it up and said "What do you want?" Spitting onto the keyboard.

"Bella, it's me, Jake." He said sheepishly.

How dare he? How dare he even have the courage to phone me up again after so long? Urgh! He needed to be put in his place, but I didn't want his last memory of me to be shouting. I would make this brief, and then resume what I was in the middle of when he so rudely interrupted.

"Hi Jake, what do you want?" I snarled.

"I wanted to ….apologize, I was a complete ass on the phone before. I hadn't spoken to you in ages, and I was distant. It wasn't acceptable of me, and it wasn't fair on you. There you are, isolated, stuck with your mother, who is one crazy bitch; while I'm here. I hadn't phoned you in months, and then I expected everything to be the same as normal, then when it wasn't, I ran away with my tail between my legs."

I tried to interrupt but he just carried on.

"I'd understand if you didn't want to speak to me right now, but I needed to apologize. I could hear the pain in your voice, and I did nothing. Some best friend I am! I don't know what it was, but something in me said that you really needed me then, like a sixth sense. Probably a load of crap, but I was worried like hell."

He had given me the perfect opportunity to back out, he said himself that he'd understand even. I could have said goodbye and hung up, leaving things completely amiable between us, but for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to. I _wanted _to hear the sound of his voice. I _needed_ to. It was an urge, too strong for me to overcome. He seemed to fill the gap within me somewhat, and I liked it.

"Jake, don't worry about it. I was awkward too, we both made mistakes. Let's just carry on as normal," so we fell into the natural chat that had always come easily with us, as though it was yesterday that we had parted. As we talked, I pondered.

This whole afternoon seemed pointless, I couldn't find the frantic energy that had driven me to make such dramatic, impulsive decisions. All the anger, all the fight was fading away with the soothing tone of Jake's voice.

I looked at the kitchen knife with disgust now, rather than awe. It was a butcher's tool, it had no elegance, no anything really. I was a fool to consider this as a method of suicide. Now I looked in horror at the thick black line, marked so casually across my wrist.

Life was a blessing, and I had been about to waste it.

Thank god for Jake, because without him, I would have made the biggest mistake of my life. I swept the ridiculous notes that I had written into a drawer, making a mental note to take the knife downstairs later, and then sunk back into my chair, careful not to look at the thick black line that marred my wrist.

A dreadful reminder of an imbecilic mistake, mark my words, I would not be trying that again.

No matter how bad the situation was, I would struggle on through. There is light at the end of the tunnel for everyone.

**Please review guys, I know this isn't the cheeriest of chapters, but I've worked like hell on this. The next one will be up VERY soon, you have my word. **


	28. Learning To Forget?

**I'm sitting in a hotel room writing. I just counted how many chapters I have left in my notes, and there's only 7 including an epilogue. My god, so much has to happen yet! :S I have no idea how I'm going to fit it all in! Yet again, thanks to my betas, I'll let them say a few words…**

_**Ihatejacob1: I gots nothing to say :) Bored though. **_

**Jalicecullen: yeah, Jalice is slacking atm, nothing this time either. **

Chapter 28: Learning to Forget?

I actually felt like a human being for the first time in months. I could walk along the street without worrying that I would have a panic attack right there and then. It might not sound like a particular achievement, but for me, that was amazing.

Life has been hell, and still is actually. School was hell, home was hell, and all the periods in between the two were hell as well, thanks to my own mind.

It trapped me in memories of him, deluding me into thinking that I had seen him, only to find that I was imagining things. I would walk into walls, without seeing them, because in my mind, they weren't there.

It was slowly getting worse and worse

Don't let anyone tell you that time heals all wounds, it's a load of shit. Time intensifies them, it lets them fester. And worse…you start to forget, and you go insane trying to remember.

I was walking a razor thin line here. As time went on, my memories began to blur, and I worried constantly that I would wake up one day and not be able to recall the exact shade of his beautiful eyes, or the feel of his hand pressed against the small of my back, or the smile that he reserved only for me.

But on the other hand, I was not allowed to think of him, the pain was too great, people would notice that I wasn't normal, that I wasn't the same as them. I already didn't fit in, anything else would just add to the derision and mockery that I already received.

So I had allotted myself an hour, where I would let it all out. I would set an alarm, and then for that hour, I would immerse myself in memories of him, completely bury myself in them. Well, I would have a week tester period of it anyway, it might just increase the pain, rather than alleviate it. It would be an experiment, and after all, what do I have to lose if it doesn't work out?

I've already lost everything that ever meant anything to me in this world.

***

DAY 1:

Quite successful, the pain seemed worse at first, and I was worried that I'd broken myself permanently or some shit like that, but after about an hour, I could breathe a little easier. I didn't really notice any difference the next day, but there seemed to be less strain on me, less pent up pressure.

So far, I think that it's been a success.

DAY 2:

I was eager for the hour today, whereas last night I was dreading it a little. I had no knowledge of whether it would make things worse or better. I think it's working. Today, Phil brought up Charlie, and it hurt, but the pain was bearable. I feel more sane, less like I'm about to snap.

It's odd, to feel so much more human, to have emotions. A girl in class made a joke today, and I laughed with everyone else. No one noticed, but I did. I felt normal, I felt like a teenager again. I hadn't noticed until now, but I had the weight of the world on my shoulders, and I didn't even know it was there until it was lifted.

There's a line in one of my favorite songs, how does it go?

'_And if you never lose, how you gonna know when you've won?_

_And if it's never dark, how you gonna know the sun,_

_When it shines.'_

Patrick Wolf, Accident and Emergency. Those three lines seemed to sum up my life. I had let a blindfold of pain be placed over my eyes, and now that it was removed, everything was different. It was scary in a way, and the difference was so alien to me.

DAY 3:

I rushed everything, looking forward to my hour. I had taken to calling it the hour of mourning. It was a way for me to let go of the past, and move on. I needed to tell reassure myself that I wasn't forgetting, but be at peace with what I had. I had no way to improve my situation, so I simply need to adjust to what do I have and make the best of it.

Today had been harder. I had had some funny dreams last night, memories dredged up by what I recalled whilst wandering through the past. They came to me in flashes during the day, marring what could have been normal.

I was so much more awake to the world, I could see how people automatically slid over me, their eyes never quite resting on me, or even making eye contact. Going through the people in my class, I realized with horror that I didn't even know their names. Some seemed vaguely familiar, but others… nothing.

It was if I was looking at perfect strangers.

DAY 4:

It wasn't really working now. I woke up at about 3.30am in hysterics. I thought I was having a panic attack because I just couldn't breathe. It was scary, and I didn't know what to do.

I couldn't call Renee, I felt uncomfortable calling Phil. This is what I mean about having nothing, no one. It creeps up on you when you least expect it. I considered calling Jake, but the time difference wasn't fair on him. I just lay there, waiting for the sun to come up.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea anymore, maybe I should stop now, before I'm in too deep.

DAY 5:

I tried to go without, but the next day was agony. I couldn't stop thinking about him. I went to the girls' bathroom at lunch and just sat there, clutching myself together. If I let go, I might fall apart. I listened to the girls coming in and chatting, having fun. They had none of the concerns that I had to deal with. I envied them sometimes, but then I think of what I shared with Edward.

I would endure ten times the pain for even a tenth of the time that we spent together, those few weeks would always be the best of my life, and I could only hope that some time in the future, I would be able to look back on them and be grateful for the months we shared together.

DAY 6:

I had my hour, but it just made me feel worse. I would have to carry on with this pitiful charade, but I wished that I could stop. Reliving my life with him was only making me see how pathetic my life was now in comparison.

I loved seeing his face again, even only in my mind, but was it worth the pain that would then continue until I got to see it again? _He _is my life, he can even affect me so strongly from hundreds of miles away. I would be ashamed for _him _to know how much sway _he _still had over me.

I was pathetic

DAY 7:

Like I said, an hour isn't enough. Maybe if I had two hours to remember him, things would be different…


	29. Insanity Escape Happiness ?

**Ok, bad news, I haven't been able to update because someone hacked my fanfiction account and changed my password. I had to email fanfiction and all that to get it changed; so I haven't been able to get this re-beta'd by my amazing and awesome beta-people. So this chapter is just me :'( I appologize for any mistakes**

Chapter 29: Insanity = Escape = Happiness… ?

**1 month later**

It was school an hour ago. I hadn't bothered to go; I didn't feel the need really. All I did was sit there and dream about Edward. Why should I leave the house to dream about him when I can do that from the comfort of my own bed? At first, I had kept it to within my hour, then two hours, and on and on, till he took up every waking second of my day.

Renee hadn't even noticed a change, and Phil was working, I hadn't got round to asking what he did yet, not that I was curious or anything. There was only room in my brain for one person, and that was _him. _

I knew that my health had gone downhill; I had trouble sleeping at night. Well that was a bit of an understatement; whenever I slept I awoke screaming from atrocious nightmares an hour later. I did my best not to sleep, filling the time with memories.

My favorite is the one where he proposes, but that just leads on to thoughts of him and Tanya, so as you can guess, I try to steer clear of that one.

I really hope that he's not with her; just the thought of her running one of her clawed fingernails down his chest makes me want to puke. I hate her, so much, yet at the same time I envy her.

I never, not once, thought that I would have cause to envy Tanya. But then again, I never thought that I would leave _him _either. I hope that he's found someone good for him, someone that's kind, and loves him like I do.

Even though it rips me in half to think of him with someone else, it tortures me to think of him miserable. I value his happiness over my sanity.

I realize that I'm hungry. Most people don't even know the meaning of the word 'hunger.' You only truly know real hunger when your stomach hurts so much that you're in pain.

None of these feeble twinges people call hunger, we eat too much in this country, and we truly don't understand what it must be like to have literally nothing.

That's another thing leaving Edward has brought me, more understanding and compassion. I really do value that, probably the only good thing that's come of this, well that's what I think anyway.

I climb out of bed, and pull on a dressing gown. None of my clothes fit me anymore, I've lost too much weight for that. My jeans fall off me, the waist so big that it wont stay up. My T-shirts hang like sacks on my frame, and even my shoes feel floppy on my feet.

It's an effort even to support my head; I really don't know why I bother.

I lie back down on my bed; I can't bring myself to go downstairs. My stomach moans in reply to this new development. The last time I ate must have been… two days ago? Three at the most.

This is just normal now, I need to get used to it. Feeling so hungry I think that I'm going to faint simply detracts from the dual pain of Edward. It's a constant presence now, and there's nothing that I can do to get rid of it. I've just given up trying really.

Renee is at home, downstairs I think. Maybe I could ask her to make me a toasted sandwich or something, but I don't have the energy to shout for her.

I don't have the energy to do anything but lie there. I don't even know how I managed to get to school yesterday. In fact, thinking about it, I don't really remember going.

Well that's rather odd. I cast my mind back; maybe I didn't go at all yesterday.

Wait, today was Monday, that's why. Yesterday was Sunday, so I didn't go to school after all. It's probably a good thing that I ditched today, there was some English essay due in, at least I think it was an English essay.

To be honest, I haven't done any homework for about three weeks now, I just don't see the point. I'm never going to need to know 'whether Shakespeare's treatment of women was misogynistic,' so why would I write an entire essay on it? They can go to hell.

Get someone to write it that gives a shit. Because I bloody don't.

Suddenly my door burst open, ricocheted off my wall, and leaving a horrible dent in the paintwork. I laughed. Renee didn't.

She crossed the room a lot less dramatically then she had entered, walking over and sitting on my bed.

'Bella, honey, we need to talk.'

I grunted at her.

'I'm giving you an ultimatum'

Now that I didn't expect. I tried to gesture for her to continue, but I couldn't be bothered half way through, instead letting my hand flop back down on the bed. She seemed to get the idea though.

'You have one week so show some signs of improvement, well of life really, or I'm having you admitted into a hospital. You're killing yourself Bella, and I can't help but think that it's all my fault.'

There she goes again, revolving it all around her.

'I can see now that you are an amazing, responsible woman. I envy you in a way, you have your whole life ahead of you, and you have so many opportunities open. I won't let you miss out on that. So you have choice, in one week, you must show some improvement, which includes gaining some weight, or I will have you admitted to the hospital because I honestly think that you _need _to see someone about this.

I don't know where from, but I found the energy to say 'all I need is Edward' and then roll over, effectively dismissing my mother from my room.

She ignored me, asking if I had any sellotape, which (according to her) was the real reason she came up here. Without waiting for a reply, she proceeded to rummage around in my desk drawers, looking for this non-existent tape.

If I had been listening, I would have heard a little gasp, and then the hurried footsteps of her practically running out the room.

If I had been looking, I would have seen two pieces of white paper clutched tightly in her fist, two pieces of paper taken from _my _desk drawer.

**TWO DAYS LATER:**

I awoke from a strange dream, in which a very familiar voice had been serenading me, outside my window. It was strange, but if I listened carefully, I could almost hear it still. Obviously just a remnant left over from the dream.

Then a chord was strummed on a guitar and Edward's husky, melodic voice filled the air.

**Come on, review, you can see that a big change is coming, this story is drawing to a close, reviews now would mean EVERYTHING to me...**


	30. Second Chance At Love

**A/N: Ok guys, I do stuff for you right? Well you can do something for me, m'kay? All I want you to do is to check out Jemster23's stories. **

**You won't regret it. Over to you guys:**

**Just to warn you, there's a bit of lime in here, this is rated 'M' after all!**

**Ihatejacob1: Izzy. Don't scare me now girl, I hope there isn't some freaky stuff now :P and I don't know who Jemster23 is, but I'm going to promote them anyway! WOOOO! Read their stories! *Ahem* Enjoy**

**Jalice: Hey, pipz! Jalice here! I hope you guys like this chapter! I'm not good at helping :L :)**

Chapter 30: Second Chance At Love

There was no way in hell that I could mistake that voice, it was forever burned into my soul. Unless I had finally driven myself spiralling into insanity, Edward was standing outside my window, playing our song. The very song that I had heard the very beginning of, in a whole different world, one where I was truly alive.

It was the perfect night for romance, the moon hung full in the sky, a breeze blew in through the window, and the sweet addicting sound of his voice sent me into a trance; I closed my eyes, allowing my ears to drink in their taste. The sky was lit with tiny specks of light, my little twinkling stars. If they were out, surely God wouldn't dare to play such a cruel joke on me as to conjure Edward's phantom to taunt me

But God works in strange ways sometimes.

It was with that thought echoing round my head that I crept over to the balcony and threw open the doors with a resounding crash. They would have richoted back and hit me, but in a moment of pure elegance I had leapt through them and into sight.

The smooth-as-satin voice faltered, I heard one word, a breathy gasp

"Bella," he exhaled, his eyes holding sheer love in them, I felt as if I would fall to my knees in relief; I could almost literally feel my heart jump back to life, and new oxygen flowing through me. I was completely at his mercy.

And then he started up again, not breaking his hypnotising gaze

'_I haven't eaten in two days_

_But I haven't slept in four_

_I haven't laughed in forever_

_And I can't bring myself to open the door._

_Something inside me has broken,_

_Just plain, been ripped away_

_And every harsh word spoken_

_Oh it burns me like a flame._

_Memories, past and present_

_Tell me nothing bout what the future holds_

_I tell myself to get over her_

_But I just feel myself getting old._

_So I'll sit at the piano and worship her_

_Right down to the sound of her voice,_

_And hope that she will come back to me_

'_Cos it's not like, I have a choice._

_Ooh I've lost her,_

_My guide through the darkness of life_

_Ooh I'd found her_

_Through all the darkness and times of strife._

_So I'll chase her down the paths of life_

_Always one step ahead of me._

_And she's running and falling_

_Always calling_

_But look now, you'll see_

_I'll never give up, _

_She's all I ever wanted,_

_And if I loose her now_

_I'll spend the rest of my life haunted_

_By what, could, have been._

_I'll never give up,_

_She's the mother of my children_

_She's the_

_Girl For Me.'_

I finally realized how close my Edward was to me, and I was so close to insanity that I actually considered leaping off the balcony as an option, anything to reunite us faster.

In that moment, I knew that somehow he still loved me. Okay, the fact that he was standing outside my window, singing about love, surrounded by candles that winked at me like the stars; it seemed to be God's was of saying 'Everything will be ok now,' I cried out in pure joy, clutching my heart, elated to finally have it beat again. But it beat differently now, it beat in sync to Edward's. If his stopped, mine would as well.

The stairs seemed the easiest option and the one least likely to break my legs as jumping off the balcony clearly would. Edward was coming. _Edward was coming_. I was panting, urging my legs to go faster, my moment of elegance gone, I stumbled, tripping.

It was about halfway down the stairs when I slipped. My legs, weakened from disuse, failed me. It only took a second, a brief second of not concentrating and I was flying through the air. The ground was closing in on me, and I closed my eyes, anything to stop me from seeing my own death approach.

Time seemed to go in slow motion; surely it didn't take someone this long to fall. I wanted to scream at God, he had promised that Edward was here, that everything would be all right.

Everything faded into blackness, so that when I hit something hard, I wasn't even aware. For all I knew, this could all have been a dream. A nightmare.

***

I thought that it must be about midnight when I awoke, in bed. I stretched, grimacing at the ridiculous aches that stretched across my back and shoulders. Something wasn't quite right, and upon looking around, everything clicked.

_The voice, Edward on the balcony, the candles like stars, running, falling…_

_Falling, oh that cursed falling. _

So that was it then, I had imagined the whole scenario, and now I was dead. But that didn't make sense, if I had imagined it, how could I be dead, I would never have tripped and died, right?

Maybe Edward had been there. Oh god, if we had found one another, only to be parted in a moment of my own idiocy, then I would never forgive myself.

If I had lost Edward for the second time, then I would die.

Oh wait, I'm already dead. Well that sucks.

I sat up, all my muscles screaming in protest, surely being dead couldn't hurt that much, death was supposed to be easier; the pain, it was nothing compared to the hole in my heart. I lay back down again, what was the point in getting up?

I heard footsteps, maybe it was Saint Peter, ready to send me straight to hell, I had been so cruel to Edward, to everyone; it was obvious that those big pearly gates were closed to me.

The footsteps got louder, I could hear voices now.

'Carlisle, it's been too long, she just lies there, _why hasn't she woken up?'_

I could hear the pain in this voice, and strangely, the pain in my heart seemed to recede the louder the footsteps got.

Even more strangely, my head was _throbbing!_

I moaned softly to myself. I thought that I was quiet, but apparently not. The voice was close now, still talking in that agonized, pained voice.

'Did you hear that? Was that her, it's been so long and now this. I should have been there, I shouldn't have been showing off with that stupid song, I should have just ran, ran as fast as I could. This is _Bella _we're talking about; I should have _known _that something would have happened to her. Sometimes it feels like everything is out to get us, like _fate _is determined to keep us apart.'

I jumped at the sound of my name being said, they were talking about me, and the burning man seemed in so much pain.

My head was hurting so badly, I reached up to touch it, and felt bandages under my hand. In that split-second I understood.

It was _Edward _outside, _Edward _was the burning man. He was worrying about me, _and he was just outside. _

'Edward,' I yelled, 'Edward!'

I heard Edward break into a run; he was so close now that I could hear his breathing. I swung myself off the bed and on to my feet. Staggering slightly, I faced the door, and waited.

In seconds the door burst open, framing the person I loved most in the entire world.

'Bella,' he breathed, and in that moment, I _actually _knew everything would be ok.

We embraced, my breasts hitting his chest, and I was wrapped in his arms. I could feel his heartbeat, his warm breath tickling my ear, and unanimously we broke apart, and stared into each other's eyes.

We both began to speak at the same time, before Edward, laughing, gestured for me to go first.

'How can you ever love me again?'

"Bella! I will love you till the end of my life. The question is, do you still love me?'

'With all my heart, Edward.'

Just saying his name sent tingles down my spine and shivers down my neck. I didn't understand how I could feel so many emotions at the same time: happiness, love, joy, wonder, to name but a few.

Then regret, for the time we spent apart, misery for the pain that I put him through, and surprisingly… lust.

I _wanted _him, and there was a bed conveniently located right behind us.

I felt Edward's heartbeat begin to increase, and I had a feeling that he was feeling the same right now.

Our lips met in a frenzy to satiate the hunger that we felt inside us. His lips were so warm, and he ran his tongue along my bottom, pleading with me for entrance, I gasped, as I felt him inside my mouth once more.

Quickly, I moved one hand into his hair, pulling on it hard, just as he liked.

'Bella, you're killing me here,' he moaned, sucking on my lip and gasping for breath.

His hands snuck around behind me and cupped by ass firmly, pressing me against him, I wriggled, the tension building, and Edward moaned again.

His lips left mine, and I wriggled again in protest, he instead proceeded to pick me up, forcing me to wrap my legs around him, while I proceeded to kiss his neck, sucking and nibbling on his earlobe.

'Bella, are you marking me?' he gasped, as I ran my teeth across his skin, and hissed as I gently nipped him

'Maybe,' I growled in his ear, breaking contact with his skin for a second. I would have continued, but I was quickly distracted by the way his hand was stroking my bare thigh.

I realized that what I was wearing probably wasn't appropriate for running around and falling down. Especially not if I was going to be doing any falling down. I had taken to wearing just a long top to bed, sometimes with a pair of boy-shorts on underneath, sometimes not.

Today was a 'not day.'

'Bella, did you wear this on purpose? I think you might have, did you wear this just to taunt me, to tease me with your body. Because you really don't need to, just seeing you makes me hard.'

The way he was talking to me was turning me on; I began to fiddle with his belt buckle, trying desperately to undo it without taking my lips from his, which they had so recently been reattached.

The floor creaked, but I ignored it, too caught up in Edward, and namely Edward's belt. Finally I got the thing undone, and I gave myself an internal round of applause.

Wait a minute, that round of applause wasn't internal…

Edward and I broke apart and looked around the room. Gathered there were Alice, Jazz, Rosalie, Emmett, and even more mortifyingly, Carlisle and Esme.

If you hadn't already guessed, the clapping was Emmett.

'Bravo Bella, what a nice way to greet you again, watching you try to fuck my brother.'

Jasper interspersed, for some reason handing over a 20 dollar note to Emmett. They had a bet about this?

'Dude, that wasn't trying, they were fucking going at it like animals! You so won, even I couldn't have seen that coming.'

Emmett looked pointedly at Carlisle.

'Come on, you too, cough up.'

Carlisle handed over a 20, while Edward looked between the three of them in disgust.

'Dad? You joined in?'

'Sorry, son,' he said looking abashed.

I didn't even want to know.

Edward, looking between the two of us, quickly arranged us into a more suitable position for adult company. For any company in fact.

Edward subtly arranged me on his lap, obscuring what I could clearly feel from the rest of our family. Emmett noticed, made a lewd joke, and I was home.

'Guys, I'm happy to see you and all, but we kind of need some time to… you know… get dressed.'

The guys shuffled out, and I hopped off Edward's lap. I was dressed before Edward had his jeans re-zipped and I was about to run down the stairs when Edward grabbed me.

'Don't you DARE run down those stairs again I've almost lost you once tonight; I am NOT going through that again. You were so lucky that I caught you before you could hit the ground, and I was so worried that I was going to harm you as I carried you back up to your bedroom. You whimpered and mewled with every stair, and I could just tell that you were hurting; it made me feel like a monster.'

Hearing the pain in his voice, I didn't say anything, merely choosing to wrap him in my arms once more.

We slowly made our way down the stairs, into the sitting room where our family had congregated. I got a proper greeting now I wasn't trying to fuck their 'brother' senseless.

I know that we're not related, but it just feels right to think we are. We've been through more then most family's have, and we're still standing, no matter what, these people would be my family for the rest of my life.

Emmett got to me first, picking me up and swinging me around in a massive bear hug. Jazz elbowed Emmett in the ribs for squeezing me too tight, and kissed me on the head. Esme and Carlisle sandwiched me together in a parent-ally hug, and then it was Rosie and Alice's turn.

'You idiot'

'We love you'

One from Rose, one from Alice, no prizes for guessing who was who.

I opened my arms wide and they rushed forward at once.

'GROUP HUG,' Emmett bellowed, and I was quickly being compressed by bodies from all sides. I felt happy now that I was encased in a hug with my friends that are like family to me.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my ass that really didn't feel like Edward's

'Alright, who's groping my ass?' I called.

Emmett, to no one's surprise yelled 'sorry, thought that you were Rose.'

Rose, who was on Emmett's other side as far as I could see, smacked the fucker in the back of his head while Edward somehow managed to knee Emmett hard in the balls.

We all laughed as Emmett, groaning, collapsed inwards on to the floor. It was Emmett's turn to laugh though, when his hands left his privates and shot out, grabbing one of my ankles and one of Rose's, he pulled hard, and I grabbed on to Edward, trying to remain upright.

Emmett pulled harder and I toppled on top of him, taking Edward down with me. Rosie fell with a shrill cry, and Alice tripped over her.

Jazz was laughing so hard that he didn't see Alice tackle him from behind, Jazz fell, and they both joined the pile, Alice for the second time.

Carlisle's voice rung out above us, 'Is everyone ok? Anything broken down there?'

'Yeah, my balls,' came Emmett's agonized reply.

**Come on guys, rizzyg2 here, please review, I reply to EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, you owe me :P **

**One measly review never hurt anyone… the buttons right there, so go on, press that bleeding button and make me look good, m'kay? **


	31. The Beginning Of The End

**A/N: Can you guys keep a secret? It's IhateJacob1's birthday on December 18****th****, so y'all might be in for a wee surprise around then… hint hint… author alert!**

Chapter 31: The Beginning of The End

BPOV

I woke completely aware of my surroundings for once; I remembered everything with a crystal clear clarity that astounded me.

I loved the feel of the warm body pressed up against my back, and the muscular arm wrapped tightly around me. I turned carefully so I was aligned with Edward, my body pressed feverishly close to his. I ignored this, and carefully blew on Edward's ear; he chuckled lightly, before opening his piercing green eyes, and opening the door to his soul.

'Edward, I think we need to talk, I want to know what happened.'

Edward's eyes filled with tears, and my heart wrenched.

'Bella, I'm so so sorry, I should have been quicker but your phone was locked, I couldn't remember the pin number. It was a twist of fate that I found you again, and I'll never let that happen again. If I'd have been quicker, then maybe you wouldn't have almost resorted to…'

'Edward, slow down, stop looking like someone killed your puppy and _explain._'

Edward sighed; his eyes met mine, thankfully dry now, and shuddered.

'Bella, you left your phone at the airport, when we last saw each other, you must have dropped it.'

'I know, Edward, I had to get a new one; it was annoying because it cut off all my ways of communicating with you. I never had the need to email, I only had my school based one, which the College shut down when I left.'

'Bella, if you had no way to contact me, then I also had no way to contact you. Your mobile was locked; I couldn't remember then pin number to open it. Maybe from that I could have got your mother's home number, but I couldn't see any other way of contacting you.

I gave up all hope, bunked off school, I couldn't live. My family had given up hope, they tried to send me to therapists, they said it wasn't normal, but I knew, somehow, somewhere, you were in pain.'

I felt a shadow of my pain at Edward's words, if he hadn't have been with me, I could tell that I would have been moaning in agony now, calling out for help. Now that he was here, his mere presence kept me whole. I needed to be close to him in order to survive.

Edward sensed my discomfort and kissed my nose gently. I gestured for him to carry on.

'Bella, I recently received a frantic phone call from Jacob Black. He had phoned every hospital in the area looking for a 'Carlisle Cullen.' He was phoning me because he too had received a frantic phone call, but this time from your mother, Renee.'

Edward took a deep breath, locked eyes with me, and said

'Renee found suicide notes in your draw, Bella, what were you thinking?'

And so I told Edward everything: how Jake had called me, and how I thought our friendship was lost, how I had felt isolated, cut off from my friends in an alien world. I told him how James, Victoria and Laurent had made my life hell from day one. It all came pouring out, and Edward sat silently throughout.

We both fell silent, before Edward began his tale. He told me how after the phone call from Jake, they had all rushed out as fast as possible. They would have been here the next day, but Carlisle had to get time off, and they all had to take leaves of absences from school.

Edward told me that they had told the school that it was a family crisis, and at that I began to cry.

'Edward, I love you, so so much.'

'I love you Bella, with everything I have.'

Edward reached for his clothes, which were lying on the chair next to the bed and I automatically assumed that we were getting up. I started to swing my legs out of bed, and was just steadying myself against the floor, when Edward's arm snaked around my waist, pulling me backwards.

'Bella, give me two minutes, are you trying to run away from me or something?'

Assuming that Edward wanted to snuggle, I settled back comfortably on the bed, but there was a spark, a hint of something in Edward's eyes. A burning emotion that I couldn't identify.

Edward's hands were clenched together, and I began to get a little nervous.

'Honey, what's wrong? You seem… tense'

Tense wasn't the right word, but there wasn't a word really, Edward's leg started to jig up and down, he was vibrating the whole mattress underneath him.

I placed a hand on his leg, forcibly stilling him, he seemed to calm at my touch.

'B Bella, I need to a ask you something,' Edward stuttered.

Wait a minute, Edward never stuttered! Something must be really bothering him.

'Edward, spit it out, right now, don't prolong this!'

'Bellawillyoumarryme'

'Edward, say that slower, I couldn't understand a word!'

'Bella, I have loved you since the moment I saw you, and I will love you till the end of my existence; you are the light in my life, my sole reason to live. I can't imagine the future without you; I want us to share it all. From graduation to, to, to our children taking their first steps. If you will have me, then I give you my word that I will do everything within my power to protect you, and I will try my best to be a loving husband, and in time, a loving father.'

Edward took a deep breath, and his eyes seemed to bore into mine. I knew what was coming.

'Bella, will you marry me?'

'Yes.'

Edward whooped, exhaled, and kissed me, all at the same time. He then proceeded to crush me to him, and we didn't emerge from my bedroom until mid-afternoon.

***

It was lying in bed again that night, with the ring that had been in Edward's family since his grandfather gave it to his Grandmother proudly displayed on my finger, when something occurred to me. In a panic I turned to face Edward.

'Edward, how are we going to stay together, we live so far apart, I won't be able to stand being separated from you again!'

Edward turned to face me, a small smile on his face.

'Bella, think about it for a second, why are Carlisle and Esme out here with us? They're going to meet Renee, and if everything goes well, persuade her to let you come home with us.'

''And how am I going to get back into Dartmouth Edward?' I was close to tears now, panic in my voice at Edward's relaxed expression. He was going to be my husband; surely he wouldn't want us separate.

'Carlisle's going to pull some strings.'

No matter how guilty I felt that there was going to be a new 'Cullen' wing erected soon enough in my name, I decided to overlook that, just this once, in favor of mine and Edward's sanity.

However, until I boarded that plane, with Edward by my side, I would not truly believe that I was going back home with Edward.

***

I spent the rest of the night with Edward, while Carlisle sweet-talked Renee; from the moment Renee walked in the door, to be greeted by Carlisle kissing her hand, I had a good feeling about this; and sure enough, Renee was soon fawning over him right in front of Phil and Esme. Esme knew exactly what was going on, but I felt a little sorry for Phil, who was staring with obvious hurt at the back of Renee's head as she shamelessly flirted.

Renee would have agreed to anything that Carlisle said, so it was no problem getting her to sign a document clearly stating that Carlisle and Esme would be my legal guardian for the duration of my time at Dartmouth and/or until I was over the age of 18. They had even got it covered so that Renee couldn't make me come back home against my will. It was perfect, and I gladly added my name underneath it with a flourish.

Later on that night, I came across Esme alone, staring out of the window, obviously deep in thought.

I was hesitant to interrupt her, but a question had been burning on my conscious and I just blurted it out without conscious thought.

'Why?'

'Esme turned to face me, and I could see from the look in her eyes that she understood, as she always would.

'Bella, firstly because we love you, and secondly because Edward loves you. In that order.'

Esme enveloped me in her arms, and I received my first proper mom-hug.

It was pure bliss.

**A/N: Review and tell me what you want for Christmas : ) **


	32. Newborn

A/N: I'm sure y'all wondering (or not) what's happened to my betas. Well I've not been sending the chapters to them, don't worry, I have a very specific reason! And it may or may not have to do with my previous author's alert ;)

**Now, I'd just like to warn you all. THIS IS THE PENULTIMATE CHAPTER. THERE ARE TWO MORE CHAPTERS LEFT, SO PLEASE REVIEW! **

**Oh, and there won't be an epilogue, I don't like them :/**

**Chapter 32: Newborn**

EPOV (ahhh, Edward's back XD)

The Christmas tree was ridiculously big this year, but Bella had insisted that we have a 'decent one, not one of those scraggly little things' to celebrate moving into our new house.

It was two years to the day since our wedding, which had been on Christmas Eve, and my 23rd birthday was coming up soon.

Bella kept saying that I was getting old; I told her that she couldn't say that when she had been complaining of a bad back from heaving the Christmas tree around the day before!

'Edward…' I heard Bella's voice call from upstairs.

Bella was in bed, about to go to sleep. She probably wanted a hot water bottle, she had been feeling a little bloated recently, of course I had my own suspicions about that.'

'EDWARD!'

'Coming Bella'

I ran up the stairs, ever willing to come at my beautiful wife's beck and call. Upon entering the room, I smiled to see Bella tucked up in bed, with the covers pulled up to under her chin. Bella smiled to see me too, a gesture that made my heart skip a beat.

I could make her smile merely by entering the room.

'Edward, I need you to do me a favor. Will you run down to the shops and get me some strawberries? Oh, and if they have any blackberries too, that would be cool.'

I sighed, this was so Bella, unpredictable and completely erratic, I loved her too much to complain though, finding fruit at 11pm was a small price to pay to have Bella as my wife.

But I had an ulterior motive and this was the cherry on top of the cake, so to speak, it just confirmed for me, what we had both been longing for.

It was the middle of winter, so my chances of finding fruits were slim. I knew this and was willing to try though, because I was hoping to pick something else up at the same time, something that would make for the best Christmas present ever, if my hopes came true.

BPOV

Edward had been surprisingly willing to run to the shops at 11pm, which wasn't unusual, but never failed to amaze me. His enthusiasm… he had practically sprinted to the car, I had no idea what that was about.

Ah well, I needed a nap, maybe I could put the berries in an omelet, yeah, that would be perfect! Berry omelet, yum…

***

I awoke to the sound of Edward's Volvo pulling up in the drive. It was barely 11.30, he must have been driving like a maniac to get there and back so quickly, but Edward did have a tendency to drive a little on the fast side; it seemed to run in the family. I now refused to get in the car with Alice; it was just too much for my nerves to take!

I heard Edward coming up the stairs two at a time, he burst through the door to the room, and the sight of him almost took my breath away.

Snow crystals had caught in his hair, giving his copper tint a subtle, mystically allure; his shirt was open far enough to give me a glimpse of his hard chest; his eyes seemed to sparkle, almost as if the moisture in his hair had collected there too; his wedding ring glinted in the light from the fireplace in the corner of the room, making me smile; and he had a slight flush to his cheeks, a mixture of exertion and the chilly night air.

He was beautiful, and he was all mine.

I felt sorry for whoever was working on the checkout tonight, she must have had a heart attack seeing my own personal God standing there buying such trivial items for his lazy wife.

He was carrying a bag, and carefully placed it on my lap. I opened it; curious to why he hadn't bought a plate up, or anything like that. I think I was expecting another Edward-like gesture: one that betrayed his love of buying me expensive gifts.

What I did see though, surprised me more then anything…

I pulled the pregnancy test out of the bag with complete trepidation, and my eyes met Edward's with what I knew was an accusing stare.

'Edward, be serious. Let's take a moment to consider the situation. It's been three months since I came off the pill, what are you basing this test on? Me feeling like some berries? Cravings happen from three months onwards, and the chances of me getting pregnant as soon as I come of the pill were, to use the doctor's own words, slim to none.'

'Bella, how much do you trust me?'

'With all my heart, you know that Edward, so why are you even bothering with this, especially right before Christmas, you'll just get both of our hopes up and then dash them again, and we'll be miserable on Christmas day.

**EPOV**

'Bella, if you trust me, you'll take that test.'

I knew, it wasn't just the odd cravings she had been experiencing, it was her body, I knew it like the back of my hand. I could name the number of freckles on her left shoulder blade without even stopping to think, if I had failed to notice a little person growing inside her, then I would have also been failing as a father.

Thankfully, I was well aware of the soft-hardness of her belly, all I had needed was proof, a way to make Bella even _take _the test.

If I had told her that I just had a 'feeling,' she would have laughed at me, and told me to get some real evidence before getting her hopes up. That would have almost have been as bad as her taking the test and nothing coming of it.

I had a feeling that Bella was wavering; I could see the hope in her eyes. If I was wrong…

No, I wouldn't say that, I'm right; I know it in my heart. Bella and I are going to be parents.

So Bella, after shutting the bathroom door firmly, even sliding the bolt over to prevent me from entering without permission, took the test.

***

The five minutes that the test took felt like an eternity to me. It was pure torture standing there, waiting. At times I paced, at times I leant up, with my back to the bathroom door listening feverishly for some sign.

Any noise from inside was processed and interpreted within my brain.

A footstep: was Bella stamping her foot? Was she squashing something? Was she stamping her foot in anger at me, for getting her hopes up, or stamping her foot in anger at me for impregnating her with a child that she secretly didn't want?

Constantly, I was tortured by these thoughts, and as they ran through my head, I couldn't help but think 'what if Bella's not pregnant.'

_What if I had made a mistake?_

I closed my eyes and suddenly all I could see was a tiny baby in my Bella's arms; I saw her face, and it was definitely a she, our first baby would be a girl. She was beautiful, even though she had my hair colour; thankfully it suited her to perfection.

Her eyes were closed as she slumbered peacefully, but I had a feeling that when she opened them, I would be staring into an exact replica of Bella's shining brown orbs.

Lost in thoughts of our beautiful child, the bathroom bolt scraping back jolted me into the present. Bella emerged, her skin ashen, her eyes filled with unspilled moisture. I studied her face for a second, and jumped to conclusions.

'Bella, we're young, we're both fertile, we can carry on trying. It's been so little time, and we have years left between us. Everything will be ok, I'm so sorry for getting your hopes up like this, it was unfair of me. Can you ever forgive me?'

Bella looked at me, and blinked once, causing a little trickle of moisture to run down her cheek. I closed the gap between us, and wiped up the tear with the pad of my thumb.

'I'm so sorry Bella, so so sorry. We can carry on trying.'

I began to sob, tears running down my cheeks. Weeks of building up to this moment, so many of my hopes and plans for the future had been set on the results of this test, and it was _negative. _

I was heartbroken, I understood now how parents felt when they lost their children; I may have never had that child in the first place, but it hurt me just as much to have her taken away from me like this.

Bella looked me straight in the eye. 'Edward, will you please shut the fuck up.'

My forehead creased, and gently, carefully, Bella smoothed it out with one finger, she wiped away the tears that had escaped to trickle down my cheeks.

'Bella, a… aren't you… upset?'

'No'

I looked at Bella, had I taken everything for granted? Maybe she didn't want children? There was an emotion that I didn't recognize in her eye… relief? That would break me, relief that she wasn't pregnant. That would literally tear me in two.

'Edward, I'm not upset because I don't need to be. You're going to be a daddy.'

***

That night, I fell asleep with Bella lying between my legs as usual. But instead of my hands being entwined with hers, or buried in her hair, as usual, they were interlocked with Bella's and resting on her belly.

I dreamt sweet dreams of Bella holding our unborn child, and awoke with her name on my lips.

'Stacey.'

A/N: Like I said, only two more chapters. PLEASE review, you pushed me over the 400 review mark last time, which was amazing, so please, please, can we see how far we can take CHIC before it finally draws to a close? I'm actually begging you; reviews will make me so so happy.

**Merry Christmas, hopefully the last chapter will be up on Christmas Eve, or before if y'all review!**


	33. Their Happy Every After

**A/N: I have worked on this chapter solidly since my last update, and only know am I completely and utterly happy with it; the reason: THIS IS THE LAST EVER CHAPTER OF COLLEGE, HERE I COME. I'm so sad that this is over, I'm actually crying right now!**

**Well there's the longest A/N ever at the bottom, so I'll save my comments for that…**

Chapter 33: Their Happily Ever After

BPOV

I was sitting on the couch with a blanket over my legs and an extremely battered copy of Wuthering Heights on my lap, Edward was upstairs somewhere, getting his 'surprise.' It had been fifteen years since Edward and I had married, and now that I had become more comfortable with the concept of 'what's mine is yours,' I was less reluctant to accept gifts.

Edward took advantage of this, frequently.

My latest gift was being palmed off as a 'late Christmas present.' It was January 3rd, so I refused to fall for that one. Unfortunately, I had swapped all rights to refusing gifts under 15 dollars in exchange for a back massage one time when I was pregnant. It may have been nine years since then, but Edward still holds me to it.

They say speak of the devil and he will appear, Edward arrived in the room carrying the biggest 15 dollar present that I'd ever seen! It was wrapped up, complete with a bow on the top and all; Edward snatched my book, ignoring my feeble protests and placed the parcel on my lap.

With trembling fingers I undid the bow, whatever was in here meant the world to Edward, I could tell from the glint in his eye. He had always been very withdrawn with his emotions, more hesitant to reveal his feelings to me on occasion. This was one of those times; he was reluctant to say how much this meant to him incase I didn't like it.

And that, made me _very _nervous.

I pulled off the last of the gaudy Christmas wrapping to reveal what looked to be a scrap book; I opened it to the first page, where I found, written in Edward's cursive script, the words _'First Memories.'_

I quickly turned the page to find the picture the nurse had taken, at our eldest, Anthony's birth. Edward had had the picture blown up to fill the entire A3 scrapbook, and I could see clearly the expression of love and devotion on mine and Edward's faces as we gazed down on our little bundle of love.

The next page was comprised of the same thing, but instead with our two twins: Anna-Marie and Marianne. Edward had Anna, and I had Mary, and we were lying side by side on the narrow hospital bed gazing into each other's eyes. The expression on Edward's face hadn't changed over the years; he still looked at our children with the same utter adoration that he had portrayed at their birth.

The next page was filled again with Edward's beautiful calligraphy. He had carefully marked out the words: 'Our (Very) Extended Family.'

On the next page was an angelic picture of the Hale family: Jasper was standing there, tall and leonine with his arm wrapped around Alice. Next to Alice was her son Richard, beaming at the camera with Jasper's blue eyes and running a hand through his sandy blonde hair.

Richard may have been a carbon copy of Jasper, but William, their other son was a complete other story; he looked like Edward, and that was an understatement. The day he was born had turned into a complete catastrophe thanks to his unusual looks; upon seeing the baby for the first time, Emmett jokingly accused Alice and Edward of incest.

* * *

_Alice was been transferred from maternity through to the ward, Edward was carrying her newborn baby William, while Jasper stood off to one side awkwardly. I had a feeling he wanted to hold the baby, but didn't want to interrupt Edward's bonding time with him. I sidled over to him, and smiled gently, as we stopped where Alice's bed was now parked. _

'_You want to hold him don't you?'_

'_I've already held him, it's ok, let Edward have a minute.'_

'_Edward's had at least half an hour by now, and he already has _three _children, this is your time to shine Jazz. Go ask for your baby back, Edward'll understand, I promise.'_

_There was a nurse standing off to the side, she had been making eyes at Edward for far to long, I was tempted to say something, but she hadn't tried anything… yet. I would wait until I had grounds to act upon, Edward always found my aggressive side ridiculously funny, although according to him it was 'sexy as hell' too._

_Jasper approached Edward, and murmured something quietly in his ear. I walked over, curious as to what Jazz was saying. Edward shook his head, and looked reluctantly at Jazz, _

'_I'm bonding with him, you'll have plenty of time later.'_

_And Jasper snapped._

'_Edward,' he growled, 'give me William _right now, _or I will not be responsible for my actions.'_

_I was fast, but the nurse was faster. _

'_Sir, I'm afraid you're going to have to step away from the child, don't make me call security,' her voice was as nasally as Lauren's was in High School, which I found ridiculously hard to believe._

'_But that's my child!'_

'_Sure, explain why it looks like him then?' She gestured at Edward, before reaching for the radio at her waist. _

'_Security to ward 6 please'_

_Jasper stood there, his mouth hanging wide open, and gawped at the idiotic woman while Edward burst into laughter, sighing, I confiscated the baby, before he did something else stupid. I then proceeded to close Jasper's mouth again and deposit William back in Alice's arms, fortunately the new mother was still knocked out by the drugs they had pumped her full of, and had missed the entire exchange. _

_I turned to Edward. 'Your mess, you fix it,' leaving him to deal with the extremely unpleasant nurse. I meanwhile, went to get a cup of coffee from the cafeteria. _

* * *

I chuckled softly to myself, and Edward, leaning over my shoulder, quickly put two and two together,

'That nurse was fowl! She would not believe us for the life of me. She just kept saying 'his eyes are green, and his hair is like a penny,' in the end, Jasper had to show her the birth certificate and his driving license in order to prove he really was the father, and then as soon as she found out that the baby wasn't mine, she started flirting with me! It was pathetic really, in a way I felt sorry for her.'

Giggling softly, I turned the page and my laugh became full-blown hysterics. Emmett and Rose's family picture was proudly displayed, and it could not have been different from Alice and Jaspers'. The entire McCarty brood was gathered outside their huge house: all 8 of them! Their children were in complete disarray, Juliet was sheltering behind Rose's legs as Ophelia brandished a worm balanced on the end of a stick at her; unfortunately Rose hadn't noticed, because their youngest, Sapphire, was busy playing in a puddle and Rose's 8 month belly was stopping her from picking her up. Charlotte was busy entertaining herself by running around with her pretty pink dress pulled over her head, and all that could be seen of Amelia was a nappy, as she crawled out of view of the camera. In the midst of all this stood Emmett, grinning like a madman, and wearing his fanny pack_. _Edward and Jasper never let him forget the day that he bought that, no matter how many times he pointed out its convenience.

Rose was currently pregnant with their last child, she had phoned us up one day, asking us to come round desperately. We had both known it was the day Rose was going in for an ultrasound, so when we heard the urgency in her voice, we assumed there was a serious problem and hurried over.

* * *

_Rose was sitting at the table staring vacantly; it was obvious that there was something very wrong just from looking at her. There were new crayon drawings on the wall, and a bumper packet of chocolate biscuits lying on the side, empty._

_There was a noise of crashing from upstairs, and a roar that sounded suspiciously like Emmett, but Rose didn't even raise her head._

_We both hurried over to her, and enveloped her tall frame in a tight hug._

'_Rose, it's ok, tell us what's happened?'_

_A thought suddenly occurred to me;_

_Rosie, shall I go get Emmett, won't he help?_

'_N no, he's pleased.'_

_Alice and I shared a horrified look, surely _Emmett _wasn't pleased that there was something wrong with his child, or at least that's what we were assuming had happened, what else could it be?_

_Nothing could make Rose this sad unless something had happened to one of her daughters, and this baby was already considered part of the family._

'_Baby, things go wrong in pregnancy's all the time.'_

'_Don't you think I know that? I had all her clothes picked out and _everything._ It was all ready, and now, and now…'_

_Rose broke into loud sobs, hiccupping occasionally._

'_We'll have to' hic 'go through it all' hic 'again!'_

_Alice tentatively asked, 'why is Emmett happy it you have to do it all again?'_

'_He doesn't care, he wanted this!'_

_Then something clicked within me, 'Rose, what exactly is wrong with your baby?'_

'S_HE HAS A PENIS.'_

_Alice looked at me, looked at Rose, and then we both burst into laughter. _

* * *

That had been hilarious; we had completely got the wrong end of the stick that day. Rose had cried even louder until we explained what had been going through our heads. Thinking about her baby being disabled made her take a good look at what mattered in life, and she quickly accepted that she was having a baby boy. Still, she was a little disgruntled that she would have to 'do it all again,' they had to repaint the baby's room, and buy all-new clothes. I offered Rose Anthony's old grows and stuff, but Alice insisted that no baby she knew would ever wear hand-me-downs.

I looked back at Edward, my sight blurry with tears, the present was more perfect then I could have ever imagined.

'Thank you, so much.'

I turned the next page, and the next; he had filled half the book with pictures from our lives that he had found. Each picture was special to us in some way, and he had put so much time and effort into this. It was phenomenal.

I reached the end of the photos and found that Edward had written _'To The Future,' _there was a blinding flash and I looked up. Edward had one of those instant develop cameras in his hand. After a few seconds a picture had printed, Edward slid the book off my lap and on to his; he pulled a pen out of his pocket, and some sellotape. He secured the picture in the book, and wrote next to it:

My Love, Jan 3rd 2010

* * *

_**3**__**rd**__** Person:**_

_**It would take too long to tell you who fell in love with who, and how many children they had. Indeed, at family gatherings, Alice was the only person who could name every person there. Emmett had enough trouble keeping track of his own offspring, grandchildren was taking it a step too far. Suffice it to say…**_

_**And they all lived happily ever after.**_

**Would y'all mind indulging me with a VERY long parting A/N? No? Good.**

**Firstly, to the amazing reviews I recieved; just a few people who've meant so so much:** Jemster23, sprinter1, ICPinkFuzzyBunnies, Angels and Airwaves, Ashiana, crazyhypervampiregurl, Fire-Daemon-girl, Melissa300, x Twilightlovergirl x, brittanymcmillian, blondebella, merlinsc, coffeeholic7 for not giving up, .forget, , AliceCullen4eternity, AliceCullenRox77, OmsessionistOMT, katy3936, XmorsmordeX, mia3692, twilightstilletos, glo4twilight, clancy119, californiaucla, Cinn Knight, Devynx3, MissMusicLover, vampiric love56, twilight-lover6, Rose-Ouch, Abi26196, Tif1, blackingcullen, Hale, forevablonde, RoRyJeSsAdDiCt, mashimaro401, .., mistylove, Midnight Equinox, oXChelseyBunsXo and last but most certainly not least, halyleyhoo.

**This is for all the people that inspired me to write better then I ever believed I could, for the people who gave me confidence at the very start, and for the people who've made ME cry with phenomenal reviews. So many people have really been a part of my life throughout; I couldn't have done it without them.**

**Much love to my two fantabulous betas, who have been with me through my up's, down's, in's, out's, and that one time where I went a little crazy and did a loop-the-loop. They're both brilliant writers who have taken time out of their own busy schedules to look after me! Also, again much love to jemster23- you've inspired me too many times to count. **

**This is the end, but add me to ****AUTHOR ALERT ****because I have some other tricks up my sleeve… does anyone like The Princess Bride by any chance? Or what about a ****Twilight-Princess Bride Crossover****? Anyone interested? Then AUTHOR ALERT, and incase that just doesn't float your boat, it's not the only thing I've got planned…**

**_Thank you  
Izzy x_**


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